An actress who exuded the girl-next-door appeal like no other,Bhumika Chawla was known for her cute onscreen presence. Now a doting mother, she has worked with the big leagues in both South and Bollywood. Varsha Abhay speaks to the lovely lady about her recent release, MS Dhoni-The Untold Story, her life shuffling between Mumbai and Dubai and her tryst with the entire South Indian film industry.
Bhumika didn’t play by the norms; her Punjabi roots did not restrict her to North India. She pursued her acting career starting with Telugu and Tamil films in 2000. Her Bollywood debut was in Tere Naam in 2003 for which she also received an award. She has worked in about 30 films in Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. In her latest, she plays a pivotal role as the sister to the most successful captain India has seen, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
You took a sabbatical from Bollywood after Gandhi, My Father. Why haven’t you worked in Bollywood since then?
During the course of all these years, I was offered a few films, some of which I signed on, but because of certain issues, they didn’t work out.Some films did finally get made, for example Jab We Met and My Brother Nikhil. At the same time there were films that I liked but never got made. Then there were offers that I received which I didn’t connect with, because of the character or the script. In fact, 2 years ago, I was offered films to play the lead but I decided to wait for something that I was genuinely interested in. During that time, I wasn’t working in Bollywood films, I was acting in Tamil and Telugu movies. I got to do some great work in South Indian cinema and hence wanted to be part of something equally good in Bollywood.
There is little known about personal life, tell us about your husband and your life shuttling between Dubai and Mumbai.
I had already worked for about 8-10 years in the movie industry so I decided to move on to the next step in my life. I met Bharat Thakur in 2004.He is the founder of Artistic Yoga. It’s a world renowned concept now, a new style of yoga that is a combination of ancient yogic knowledge with sports medicine. We dated for 3 years before deciding to get married in 2007. We got married on 21st October, 2007. Since he travels a lot because of his classes, I used to shuttle between Dubai and Mumbai. We have our base in Mumbai but since his work is mostly out of Dubai, we travel very frequently.
How are you enjoying motherhood?
My son Yash was born in 2014, he is two and a half years old. It’s an amazing experience. In fact, I was up early this morning and he was still sleeping. As he woke up, he called me and said, ‘Mumma where are you? I was searching for you under the blanket.’There can’t be anything more heartwarming! And I was thanking God for these small things that melt my heart. He is my life, he is everything to me. We learn and grow along with our little ones.
You also took a short break after you got married and had a kid. Did the number of offers decline after that?
I got married in 2007 after which I had so many hits in Telugu. After the birth of my son, I continued to do work as and when I felt the need to take up an interesting project. If my career got affected, it certainly wasn’t because of my marriage or child.It was because I didn’t want to do 10-20 films a year. I was never over ambitious about it. Even the kind of offers I was getting was the same as before. I think my work probably took a backseat when I moved to Dubai for a year. Even at the height of my career in Telugu films, when I had back to back hits, I did not want to be No 1 and that kind of thought never crossed my mind. I worked out of my comfort zone and still plan to do the same.
How did MS Dhoni-The Untold Story happen?
I got a call from the casting director Vicky Sidana and he told me that the director was keen on meeting me for the role. I met Neeraj Pandey and he narrated the script and told me the concept behind the film and also my character sketch. He also mentioned very clearly that even though this film may not give me as much time and space on screen, the movie was going to be one of the good films of the year.
There are 2 reasons why I signed on this film -one is that it was a biopic of one of the finest cricketers India has today and two, the fact that it was being made by Neeraj Pandey, whose work I totally admire. So, when I was offered this film, I didn’t have to think much.
So, is this a comeback to Bollywood?
If comeback means, singing films left, right and center, then for me this is not a comeback. For me, the moment I get another good film with a good team, I would love to do it. But if it’s not the case, I don’t think it’s worth my while to leave my son and go out and work.Fortunately,I’m blessed enough to have everything that I need and I don’t have to work unless it means professional satisfaction. So, if I do get good offers, why not!
How was the experience working with Sushant Singh Rajput?
He is a good actor, a very fine performer. He is dedicated to what he is doing. He has been doing a lot of good work. He normally doesn’t talk much, but whenever we were on sets together, we bonded well.
You started your career in the South. How comfortable were you with adapting to the environment, the language and everything else?
During those initial days, South Indian languages were like German and French to me, they didn’t quite make any sense. Over the years, I became more of a South Indian than a Punjabi. I started enjoying the food; I like the South Indian fare more. Even today I’m more comfortable visiting South than visiting the North. I’ve adapted very well to it. I think I’m one of those typical South girls now. And how can I not be, I’m speaking their tongue, eating their food and working in their films. Work has been extremely satisfying here, I’ve enjoyed every film that I was part of. And this industry will always be closer to my heart than anything else.