Bhumi Pednekar is happy and grateful as the year comes to an end. Her filmography now boasts of three widely talked-about movies — Badhaai Do, Raksha Bandhan and her recent release, Govinda Naam Mera. The actor tells us, “I just manifested really good work and made space for myself, and I feel it automatically happened.”

Pednekar, who will soon be seen in films including Bheed, The Ladykiller and Bhakshak, among others, further shares that her mantra is to stay consistent as well as relevant: “I have never been the kind of actor who runs behind screen time. If there is a role I like, I will do it even if it enters in the 40th minute of a film and leaves soon. I do not care. I know I am going to leave a mark. I am constantly searching for characters. I want to change the perception that female actors come with an expiry date. The idea is to grow and evolve.”

Ask if she is ever scared of saying no to directors, and the 33-year-old, without any hesitation, says, “No, there is nothing like that. I have said no to big money. I want to do every kind of film, but cannot be in a film for mere pleasure.”

She goes on to share that one of her favourite movies this year is Badhaai... and if you ask her which film she wishes she was a part of, Pednekar, in a beat, names Alia Bhatt-starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi. The actor also says that she is open to working on OTT while commenting on the digital wave: “I want to try a longer format; and if I come across material that genuinely excites me, then why not?”

Her New Year mantra, she says, will be building her mental and physical health.