This Article is From Feb 27, 2015

How Bhumi Pednekar is Different From These 13 Yash Raj Heroines

How Bhumi Pednekar is Different From These 13 Yash Raj Heroines

Bhumi Pednekar in a still from Dum Laga Ke Haisha.

New Delhi:

Actress Bhumi Pednekar, the brand new Yash Raj find, is the opposite of size zero. In this, she is also the opposite of the traditional Yash Raj heroine who has always been impossibly beautiful, exquisitely dressed and (mostly) thin. Bhumi is none of these.

This is also why everybody is talking about her. Bhumi, a former Yash Raj Films staffer, filled in as heroine in several auditions to cast the male lead of new film Dum Laga Ke Haisha. Really, it was she being auditioned and the unsuspecting Bhumi found herself cast as the overweight Sandhya married to Prem, played by Ayushmann Khurrana, who is initially repulsed by his new bride.

Here's why the repulsion - Sandhya, dressed in a colorful, kitschy wardrobe, is very definitely plus-sized. She's a large girl, and it is precisely because she's no reed-like Bollywood waif that Bhumi is important. She's both a sign of the Bollywood that could be and a signpost to help it on its way to a destination where actresses are more than the sum of their faces, figures and their talent for dance.

Here are 13 Yash Raj heroines who came before, and how Bhumi Pednekar is breaking the mould.

Waheeda Rehman and Raakhee: The very first Yash Raj heroines, Waheeda Rehman and Raakhee starred in Kabhi Kabhie together and separately in films like Daag and Mashaal. They were always elegant, graceful and immaculately turned out. How Bhumi is not at all like them: She's cheerfully loud and uninhibited. There's nothing understated about her.
 


Poonam Dhillon: As the tragic, dreamy-eyed Kashmiri belle Noorie, Poonam Dhillon was the object of the affections of two men. How Bhumi is not at all like her: She's not tragic. She's not dreamy-eyed. She's not the object of anybody's affection, at least to start with.




Rekha: As Silsila's Chandni, Rekha was the first to have the trademark 'Yash Raj heroine look' - all sleek hair, single-coloured saris with matching blouses and kohl-rimmed eyes. How Bhumi is not at all like her: Nothing she wears matches, she's often a little disheveled, her hair escapes from its chignon and when she's upset, she forgets the kajal.




Sridevi: Chandni's Chandni continued from where Silsila's Chandni left off. Draped in a white chiffon sari, being romanced in Switzerland, Sridevi was the definitive Yash Raj heroine. How Bhumi is not at all like her: There is a notable absence of white, chiffon and Switzerland in Dum Laga Ke Haisha. Instead, there are printed saris with contrast blouses and small-town India.




Kajol and Madhuri Dixit: In Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, the mother of all Bollywood romances, and 'good girls' Simran and Pooja are decorous, soft-spoken and passively allow themselves to almost be married off to other men while their hero - Shah Rukh Khan, both times - moves heaven and earth for a happy ending. How Bhumi is not at all like them: Sandhya has probably never had of the words 'passive' or 'shy.' She takes charge of her own love story, chasing down her reluctant husband until he falls for her optimism and charm.
 


Rani Mukerji: Yash Raj's most repeated heroine has been cast in nine or so films beginning with 2002's Mujhse Dosti Karoge!How Bhumi is not at all like her: Rani, now married to Yash Raj boss Aditya Chopra, arrived with an impeccable Bollywood pedigree. As the member of a filmy family to which actresses Kajol and Tanuja also belong, Rani was born with a celluloid spoon. Bhumi's show business credentials are far more prosaic and involve years of backroom slogging as assistant to Yash Raj casting directors.




Anushka Sharma: Like Bhumi, Anushka made her debut with Yash Raj Films. Also like Bhumi, she played a married woman in her first film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. How Bhumi is not at all like her: Anushka's 'husband' was Shah Rukh Khan. Who adored her. Bhumi is married to Ayushmann, a far lesser mortal than the lofty SRK to make a debut opposite, who doesn't want to have anything to do with her at first.




Parineeti Chopra: Perhaps the Yash Raj heroine most similar to Bhumi, bubbly, girl-next-door Parineeti doesn't conform to the Bollywood body image standard either. How Bhumi is not at all like her: Unlike Bhumi's homely Sandhya, Parineeti's debut role in Ladies vs Ricky Bahl was as spoiled, pampered, poor little rich girl Dimple, armed with a fancy wardrobe and daddy's bank balance.




Katrina Kaif: Years after the white chiffon sari was retired, Katrina Kaif resurrected it in director Yash Chopra's swan song Jab Tak Hai Jaan. As Samar/Shah Rukh Khan's lost Meera, Katrina places God and religion above the love she shares with Samar. It requires the intervention of Anushka Sharma, playing Cupid, to reunite the lovers. How Bhumi is not at all like her: Sandhya isn't giving up on a husband who ignores her, and she needs no help from anybody except, perhaps, her mother who tells her to make the first move.




Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra: These former models, impossibly telegenic and glamorous, came late to the Yash Raj party, starring in Bachna Ae Haseeno and Gunday much after they had already made high-profile movies with other producers. How Bhumi is not like them at all: She doesn't look like a model and she doesn't have the advantages of a former model's front of camera experience. All Bhumi has to recommend her to critics and fans is that often forgotten and all too rare commodity, talent.
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