Bhumi Pednekar is vocal about many issues including the environment, gender disparity and women’s rights. And the same spirit reflects not just in her life but through her performances, too.

Having given impactful portrayals in her films including Dum Laga Ke Haisha (DLKH; 2015), Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (TEPK; 2017), Sonchiriya (2019), and Saand Ki Aankh (2019), she says, “As a person, most of my communication is about empowering my gender and I am ruthless about it. So, as an actor, when I have the means to reach out to so many people, I will use it. I consciously choose women who are here to prove a point and have an opinion, as sometimes, strong women might not have an opinion. I play women who will inspire other women to get a better life.”

Recently, Pednekar completed six years of DLKH and revisited her journey through many posts on social media. She is aware of the impact the role had on so many men and women after the film released, including herself. “There are days when I feel under confident. Then, I remember Sandhya’s journey and it gives me a boost of confidence and positivity. Sandhya, the kind of journey she had, that of battling body shaming issues, put out a message about body positivity for everyone. Or, If they think of Jaya in TEPK and her journey as the milieu she belonged to, the kind of step she took, leaving her husband which is a taboo, to fight for her basic right, is inspiring,” she says, adding she was glad to learn that many women followed in Jaya’s path and approached panchayats, who then decided on ‘no toilet, no bride’, which is the “kind of impact cinema” can have on people.

The actor has been shooting for Badhaai Do, co-starring Rajkummar Rao and reveals that the year is completely packed. “I feel I am in this for the right reasons and I am truly here as all I ever wanted to do was act. My happiest place in the world is in front of a camera. I think there’s a girl next door quality (in me) that people connect with and I try playing women whom you can relate with. Maybe that’s something that works for me. I find pride in celebrating the Indian woman in her entirety and maybe that works for me. I am doing some interesting films. The last six years, my trajectory has been a mixed bag of great characters, films that have done commercially well as well, so I have tried to maintain the same. I am all about experimenting and I have not let go of that. And this year will see a lot of that,” she concludes.