Actress · Hindi Cinema

Bhumi Pednekar

Contemporary 2015–present

Bhumi Pednekar is an Indian actress who works in Hindi cinema, widely recognised for her portrayals of headstrong small-town women. After roughly six years as an assistant casting director at Yash Raj Films, she made her acting debut as an overweight bride in the romantic comedy Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015), a role that won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. She built a reputation for content-driven and social-issue films such as Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Bala and Saand Ki Aankh. She is regarded as one of the leading actresses of her generation for taking on unconventional, character-driven parts rather than conventional glamour roles.

Honours: Three Filmfare Awards — Best Female Debut for Dum Laga Ke Haisha, plus two Filmfare Critics Awards for Best Actress (for Saand Ki Aankh and Badhaai Do) — along with two Screen Awards, two Zee Cine Awards, an IIFA Award and a Producers Guild Film Award, most of them tied to her debut and to Saand Ki Aankh and Bala.

Filmography

12 films · compiled from Wikidata

Signature Roles

Durgamati

Best known for: Dum Laga Ke Haisha · Toilet: Ek Prem Katha · Shubh Mangal Saavdhan · Sonchiriya · Saand Ki Aankh · Bala · Badhaai Do

Did You Know?

Before acting, she worked as an assistant casting director at Yash Raj Films for about six years.
She gained close to 12 kg to play the overweight bride in her debut film Dum Laga Ke Haisha.
At around thirty, she played the septuagenarian real-life sharpshooter Chandro Tomar in Saand Ki Aankh (2019), sharing the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress with Taapsee Pannu.
She won a second Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for portraying a closeted lesbian physical-education teacher in Badhaai Do (2022), an award she shared with Tabu.
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) has run continuously at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir cinema for decades — the longest theatrical run in film history.
Sholay (1975) ran for over five years at Mumbai’s Minerva theatre and its dialogues are quoted to this day.
Mother India (1957) was India’s first film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

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Bhumi Pednekar

Filmography

Recent & Ongoing

Bhakshak

Afwaah

Badhaai Do

Raksha Bandhan

Govinda Naam Mera

Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan

Bhoot – Part One: The Haunted Ship

Pati Patni Aur Woh

Bala

Toilet - Ek Prem Katha

Shubh Mangal Saavdhan

Signature Roles

Durgamati

Did You Know?