Bhumi Pednekar Debunks Rumours Of Insecurity Between Heroines, Says ‘Narrative Must Have Started By Men’

Mumbai, Feb 1 (PTI) Actor Bhumi Pednekar said she is glad that she got the opportunity to try her hands at comedy with her upcoming film “Mere Husband Ki Biwi”, a genre she believes was more prominent in 90s Hindi cinema.

The comedy film, also starring Arjun Kapoor and Rakul Preet Singh, celebrates the quirks and complexities of romantic relationships.  It is directed by Mudassar Aziz, known for movies such as “Happy Bhag Jayegi”, “Pati Patni Aur Woh” and “Khel Khel Mein”.

“I’ve seen such films while growing up and I would get inspired by actresses (Karisma Kapoor and others) like them, the work they did. I’m glad Mudassar sir gave me the opportunity to do comedy in two of his films (‘Pati Patni Aur Woh’ and ‘Mere Husband Ki Biwi’).

“Usually, female actors don’t get to do comedy films. I love watching comedy films. In this film, both female actors have done comedy on the front foot, like how you would see back then (in the 90s) with the number one series kind of films where actresses would do comedy. So, we’ve done something similar,” Pednekar told reporters at the trailer launch of the film.

When asked about potential ego clashes and insecurities between female actors working together, Pednekar and Singh dismissed the idea, stating that they are actually good friends.

“She is my sister. She is married to my best friend (Jackky Bhagnani) and now she has become one of my closest friends. This narrative that two heroines are insecure is not true, and it must have been started by some men who themselves are not secure. There’s nothing wrong between us, we rather had great fun shooting for the movie,” Pednekar said.

Singh revealed that their director was worried that her camaraderie with Pednekar should not reflect on screen since their characters dislike each other in the movie.

“Mudassar would tell us to stay away from each other since we are good friends in real life because we’ve to show on screen that we can’t stand each other. Mudassar was worried that it should not reflect on screen that we both (Bhumi and I) are good friends,” the actor said.

Kapoor said he never felt that both Pednekar and Preet Singh were “insecure” of each other and added that there’s a “genuine camaraderie” between the two heroines.

“It (rivalry between two heroines) gets misconstrued like two girls on a set. For this film, we had a script ready, the characters were designed differently, and there was no such thing on set where they (Bhumi and Rakul) approached the director or producer saying, ‘Change this scene’. We shot exactly what was on paper,” Kapoor said.

“As a third person, I never saw them being insecure of each other,” he added.

“Mere Husband Ki Biwi”, produced by Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani, and Deepshikha Deshmukh through the banner Pooja Entertainment, will be released in theatres on February 21. PTI KKP RB RB