Bhumi Pednekar on Bhakshak: ‘I wanted to correctly portray what a journalist with this kind of information would do’

Bhumi Pednekar in a still from Bhakshak, releasing on Netflix on February 9. (Image courtesy Netflix © 2024)

From her debut in 2015 in Dum Laga Ke Haisha to roles in movies such as Shubh Mangal Savdhan, Badhaai Do, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha and Bheed, Bhumi Pednekar has consistently chosen films that challenge the status quo or spotlight a societal issue. She has balanced these with more mainstream content, including Govinda Naam Mera and Thank You For Coming. Her latest Bhakshak, directed by Pulkit (releases on February 9, on Netflix), is a compelling and thought-provoking drama based on true events surrounding a girl-child home in Bihar. Pednekar, who plays a Patna-based television journalist, Vaishali Singh, spoke about the film and what it took to play a character who fights against a corrupt system to uncover crimes against children. Edited excerpts:

Vaishali Singh has a sort of a quiet strength. She gives back when pushed and stands her ground as a TV reporter. How would you describe her and what elements did you pick up on to interpret your character in Bhakshak?

I was very clear that, in these times, the portrayal of journalism is hyper-real, aggressive, and there's so much happening. I wanted to play it a different way. Here, we are dealing with a story that's inspired by real incidents. It's very sensitive and needs to be wrapped in a lot of dignity. I wanted to correctly portray what a journalist with this kind of information would do, especially one who belongs to a particular stratum of society, a socio-economic environment that is not very supportive of her. Yet she does what she wants. She picks her battles. She speaks out when she has to. I wanted this stillness in this character. I wanted her to be an observer. I wanted her strength to come from her silences. I wanted her strength to come from the fact that she does not always need to have a retort to be right. When things don't go my way, I have the privilege of putting my foot down. She doesn't. But she finds a way around and makes that happen. My work was to convey all of that without talking a lot. See, my character is a reporter so the film would have been verbose. That was the discussion that the makers and I had and also it was written that way. We just kind of fine-tuned it and refined it more in terms of her reactions. I just told the makers let’s not even make her say it. I'll make sure I convey it.

The central story is about child abuse in an orphanage. You have a piece to camera towards the end of the film where Vaishali speaks of sympathy and our reluctance and discomfort with feeling a sliver of another’s pain. What would you say is the message of the film?

The spirit of the film is captured in that last five minutes. After I heard the narration, what stayed back with me was that for the first time I acknowledged that this is my problem as well. I am an active part of that society which has denied these children their childhood. We are speaking of sexual offences on kids as young as three. Nobody's accountable for them. Nobody is responsible for them. But they are a part of the world I live in. Have I ever given a damn? I haven't. So, this film haunted me. It’s also very personal to me, because I am associated with organizations that do similar work and we know how difficult the ground reality is. I know these stories. I know these children. But also, in the research for this film, when I read firsthand accounts, the tragedy of life became real. It was no longer just research, but an understanding that these are things a child has gone through. The material disturbed me deeply. Having said that, we want the film to be championed by many. We want the film to start a conversation. I hope the film leaves behind an impact that there's a certain hardening and disconnect from basic empathy that has happened. I really hope that, in some small way, this nudges us to get back to that place where we care about somebody else's pain.

The spirit of the film is captured in the last five minutes.

Bhumi Pednekar in a still from Bhakshak. (Image courtesy Netflix © 2024)

You've often been described as an artist who chooses films that tackle issues that impact society. How are you creating this balance between the socially conscious, socially relevant films and commercial ones?

It is a 100 per cent conscious effort because as an actor, as a performer I enjoy leaving behind an impact. So even in my simpler narratives, where the film’s message in totality might not be so hard-hitting or direct, my character definitely still has agency and she stands for something. That's a conscious effort. I don't think I would be happy doing things that do not carry the gravity of what I believe. My last release was a solo film. Thank You For Coming was just so far away from Bhakshak. In the former, we were exploring themes of sisterhood, womanhood, feminism, female sexuality and desire. These two women – Kanika Kapoor of Thank You For Coming and Vaishali Singh of Bhakshak – wouldn’t coexist in the same world. Yet, somewhere, Vaishali and Kanika are still dealing with the same issues of patriarchy. I'm constantly finding those things.

Are you trying to step away from these issue-based films or are you naturally gravitating towards them?

I think it's a conscious decision, and why not? Why should I shy away from something that I strongly believe in? I know, it kind of hardens who Bhumi is. At the start of my career, I was a little worried that I might lose out on opportunities doing films with a traditional background. But I haven’t, and if I do, it's okay. I want to leave behind a legacy of films that truly tried changing whatever they could. I want future generations to be inspired by my art. My art is my way of contributing.