Bhumi Pednekar on her changing body and the importance of self love

Before our interview, I had Googled Bhumi and the search engine threw up several suggestions related to the actor’s weight. It seems ‘How much does Bhumi Pednekar weigh?’ is a popular search. She is entirely aware of this, of course...and is also “so done” with the curiosity around her kilos.

“I’m sick and tired of people wondering about my weight... I don’t even react anymore,” she says, half-laughing, half annoyed. “Obviously, after my first film released, I liked speaking about my weight gain and loss because I was proud of my achievement and I hoped it would inspire people to be fit.

"I’ve never liked the word ‘thin’... I’ve always believed in being fit. I don’t weigh myself; I haven’t stepped on a weighing scale in two years! I believe in inches. And I like how girls these days are working on being strong—they build muscle, they lift weights, they eat protein. That’s the kind of fitness I enjoy. But I’m still amazed at how weight-obsessed our society is. It’s all about being a certain size!"

"I am an Indian girl, I’m curvy, this is my skin tone—I love it! The thing I have learnt post-Dum Laga Ke Haisha is that it’s so important to love yourself. I mean, you get one life; you can’t abuse your body. And I have been through a phase where my weight had become an obsession. All I could think about was knocking off some kilos. And then my period dates went awry...it was a very unhealthy phase for me. It took me a long time to rebuild a healthy relationship with my food."

"That’s a very important relationship, by the way. You can’t feel guilty if you have a roti...you can’t be petrified of carbs or of an indulgence here and there. People take their health for granted, and girls, especially, don’t realise how complicated their bodies are. We get periods, we are supposed to bear children, and our hormones are constantly raging, right? You are either PMSing or ovulating! So I keep telling people that proper nutrition is crucial. It has taken me some time to understand this as well, but I am finally in a good space and I just hope this ‘weight conversation’ around me kinda changes."

Lead Image: Bhumi Pednekar/Instagram