Bhumi Pednekar speaks on preparing for Bhakshak: “I was saddened that my research material was somebody’s reality”

Bhumi Pednekar plays the role of a local reporter in Netflix's original film, Bhakshak.

Bhumi Pednekar's latest project, Bhakshak, is released on Netflix today February 9. For the unversed, Bhumi plays a local reporter in Bihar, who tries to expose the cases of sexual abuse at a girls’ shelter home. While speaking of the project, during an interview with PTI, Bhumi stated that the Netflix film made her question her "numbness."

Bhumi Pednekar speaks on preparing for Bhakshak: “I was saddened that my research material was somebody’s reality”

The actress asserted, "I don’t think I’ll ever be able to move on from Bhakshak because it is about something that is actually happening with little children in society. This is not specific to one area of India, this could be happening anywhere around us. It’s overwhelming, it angers you and it also gets you to question what you are doing about it."

The Thank You For Coming actress stated, "I really hope it impacts the audiences, where you kind of question your decisions. It made me question my empathy and how I had become so numb towards somebody else’s pain."

Sharing her thoughts further, she added, "I was saddened that my research material for the movie was somebody’s reality… What we see (in the film) is the harsh reality of how a lot of children are living in these shelter homes. They didn’t know that life is supposed to be any other way. Some of them were so young that they didn’t even know what was happening with them."

As the conversation progressed further, Bhumi also spoke about doing issue-based cinema. She explained, "I’ve always had a lot of activism within myself because I feel very passionately about things. And art is my way of putting out what I believe in. I also feel that I thrive really well in cinema like this because I enjoy doing it so much. Everybody has a personality and things that they believe in. And this is what I like. So, it comes naturally to me."

Produced by Gauri Khan and Gaurav Verma, it is helmed by Pulkit. Besides Pednekar, the film also stars Sanjay Mishra, Aditya Srivastava and Sai Tamhankar.

Also Read: Bhumi Pednekar’s sister Samiksha reviews Bhakshak: “You’ve outdone yourself and we are so proud of you”