In the year 2015, India`s most successful movie, media and entertainment empire- Yash Raj Films, gave Bollywood a promising new face, Bhumi Pednekar. She rose to fame with her debut project
Dum Laga Ke Haisha, opposite
Ayushmann Khurrana. Directed by Sharat Katariya, the movie went on to become a sleeper hit at the box office, with Bhumi taking home a Filmfare Award, Screen Award, Zee Cine Award, and International Indian Film Academy Award for Best Female Debut. Having worked under Shanoo Sharma, Yash Raj`s in-house casting director for six years, the actress gained oodles amount of weight for her role as Sandhya Verma. The movie follows the story of an overweight girl who struggles to start a new life with her husband, Prem Prakash Tiwari, a cassette shop owner. In the same year, she also featured in Y-Films`s mini web-series Man`s world, alongside industry names like Parineeti Chopra, Kalki Koechlin, and Richa Chadda.
Early LifeBorn in Mumbai to a Maharashtrian father and a Haryanvi mother, Bhumi has been brought up in the city of dreams and did her schooling from Arya Vidya Mandir in Juhu. She has a young sibling, Sameeksha, who is an aspiring lawyer. Having once confessed to her mother about her dreams of becoming an actress, Bhumi was enrolled in Subash Ghai`s acting school Whistling Woods, for a year. As an assistant casting director to Shanu Sharma, Bhumi has helped cast for films like Chak De! India, Rocket Singh: Salesman of The Year and Teen Patti.
Movie CareerWhile working for Yash Raj, Bhumi used to send mock auditions to actors as references. Little did she know that one of her mock auditions would make her the lead heroine of one of the biggest production houses in the country. She was roped in, to essay Sandhya Verma in Sharat Katariya`s Dum Laga Ke Haisha. The movie won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and was a nationwide critical and commercial hit.
Her 2017 projects include
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, co-starring Akshay Kumar in the lead, and
Shubh Mangal Savdhan, opposite Ayushmann Khurrana. Her 2019 projects include
Sonchiriya,
Saand Ki Aankh, ,
Bala and
Pati Patni Aur Woh. Her 2020 releases include
Bhoot - Part One: The Haunted Ship and
Durgamati.
Her other notable movies include Badhaai Do (2022), Raksha Bandhan (2022), Govinda Naam Mera (2022), Bheed (2023), Afwaah (2023), Thank You for Coming (2023), Bhakshak (2024), The Lady Killer (2024) and Meri Patni Ka Remake (2024).