Bhumi Pednekar Talks Netflix’s ‘The Royals’ and Prime Video’s ‘Daldal’
Bollywood star Bhumi Pednekar, who co-hosted the opening ceremony of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) this year, has revealed details about her upcoming projects, including Netflix series “The Royals” and psychological thriller “Daldal.” Prime Video.
Speaking about “The Royals”, for which a teaser has been released, Pednekar said, “It is my first long format. I am very happy that our employees are Netflix. It will be magnanimous. It’s romance, it’s comedy. I like that genre myself.” The actor added that while the show falls into the rom-com category, it will feature “layered” and “nuanced” performances from a cast of both established and new actors, including veteran Zeenat Aman and “The Perfect Couple” breakout star Ishaan Khatter. .
Pednekar also discussed her role in the Prime Video series ‘Daldal’ and described it as being on the opposite end of the spectrum from ‘The Royals’. “I have never read a character so complex in my career,” she said of the psychological thriller.
During a panel discussion on women’s safety in the Indian film industry at IFFI, Pednekar shared the stage with actors Khushbu Sundar and Suhasini Mani Ratnam, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali, and actor, author and film administrator Vani Tripathi Tikoo. “The Indian film industry is generally quite safe for women,” she noted, while acknowledging that challenges exist. “Of course there are anti-social elements and of course there are perpetrators,” Pednekar said. “But I think these people are being drafted today, unlike in the past. And I think the idea was just about, how do you make the environment safer? And this is simply not an India problem. This is a global conversation today.”
As an advocate for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in India, Pednekar raised serious concerns about climate change. “Climate change is the greatest threat to humanity,” she said. “Right now, schools in Delhi are closed. You are depriving children of the right to education because your pollution is so bad.”
Commenting on the trend of climate change deniers ascending to positions of power, Pednekar said: “We all have a voice, and we all have an opportunity to have our voices heard. So yes, there may be people in power who can deny a scientific fact that the world is experiencing right now, but there is nothing more powerful than the power of the people.”
This is Pednekar’s third appearance at IFFI. She underlined the importance of the festival for emerging talent: “We need to ensure that people within our fraternity, new filmmakers, young filmmakers, young minds, have a platform like this where they can come and celebrate, exchange ideas and find ways to to create art. what they believe in.”
