Chum Darang on Romancing Bhumi Pednekar in Badhaai Do: It Was a Challenge but I Had No Inhibitions

Bhumi Pednekar and Rajkummar Rao’s upcoming film Badhaai Do is all set to release on February 11. Directed by Harshavardhan Kulkarni, Badhaai Do explores gender identities and homosexuality through the lens of its characters based in a small town. The movie also marks the Bollywood debut for actor Chum Darang, who plays Bhumi’s love interest.

In a recent interview with ETimes, Chum shared her experience of playing a homosexual character in a mainstream Hindi film. Hailing from Arunachal Pradesh’s Pasighat, Chum told ETimes that she had not thought of actively pursuing her interest in acting. Chum added that it has been challenging to play Bhumi’s love interest in the film but she had no inhibition about the character. “I saw this casting ad on Facebook and I randomly texted the team and went for my auditions and it just happened. The character that I am playing, she is such a fun girl and the tag of playing Bhumi’s love interest did not really bother me. It was a challenge to play a role like that but I had no inhibitions. I listened to my director and understood what the team wanted. And I would like to believe that I completed this challenge well,” she told the publication.

The actress also shared how her co-actors Bhumi and Rajkummar inspired her. Chum told ETimes, “They both are so down to earth and work really hard. I know they are experienced, they know so much but during the shoot, they sat down, listened to the director and worked accordingly. I learned to be hardworking and grounded from them, the respect they have for other actors on set was another thing that I learnt from them.”

Chum is elated to start her acting journey with such a progressive role and told ETimes, “Life before Badhaai Do was normal and right now, I am getting a lot of attention and I am thrilled. It feels like my life is changing, it is going towards a beautiful journey.”

Badhaai Do also stars Seema Pahwa.