Sonchiriya: How Bhumi Pednekar shocked viewers looking almost unrecognisable as a woman from Chambal valley

If you couldn’t recognise Bhumi Pednekar in the stills and trailer of ‘Sonchiriya’, you will be amazed at the efforts taken by the actress to look the part. The ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ star went through hours of make-up to look convincing as a woman from Chambal valley in Madhya Pradesh. 

READ: When Bhumi Pednekar Thought Disha Patani Was ‘kachcha’

Bhumi’s look requirement for the movie involved making her skin look sunburnt, weather-beaten, pigmented, basically three to four shades darker, which was achieved through extensive make-up.  

“She wore a lot of make-up for the film to make her skin look sunburnt, weather-beaten, pigmented. The idea was to get her tanned down 3 to 4 shades to make her resemble someone who works under the sun in the arid, hot, burnt Chambal valley. It was quite a process every single day for her to look the part,” a source says. 

We don’t need to go too far to remember the last time the actress had undergone a similar transformation. In fact, that’s the first impression we have of Bhumi, as an overweight woman in ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’, and it was shocking for many to see her looking slimmer after the movie released. The ‘Pati Patni Aur Woh' star similarly looked convincing playing a small town girl, a village belle and a housemaid in ‘Shubh Mangal Savdhaan’,  ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ and ‘Lust Stories’ respectively. 

“Bhumi is an urban, cool girl next door. For her to constantly change herself so drastically for her roles is commendable. She is a powerful performer so she has been able to carry off such difficult roles with ease. From her first film itself, she has grabbed the attention of audiences with her acting as well as her willingness to transform for the part.

In ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha,’ she delivered a break-through acting performance of that year and put on oodles of weight and made a bold debut as an overweight but self-assured young woman, Sandhya. In her next film ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ she played Jaya, a determined and progressive young woman from a small town and again wowed people. She again played a small town girl Sugandha in ‘Shubh Mangal Savdhaan.’ In Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Lust Stories,’ she played the role of a house-maid and again surprised everyone by absolutely looking the part. So, it’s no surprise that she is now playing a village girl from 1970s Chambal convincingly,” the source says. 

Naturally, the actress is thrilled with the reviews coming her way. 

READ: SHOCKING: Sushant Singh Rajput And The Entire Cast Of 'Sonchiriya' Wore A Single Outfit Throughout The Film

‘Sonchiriya’ also stars Sushant Singh Rajput and is directed by ‘Udta Punjab’ fame Abhishek Chaubey. The movie produced by Ronnie Screwvala, hits the theatres on 1 March.