Bollywood: Bhumi Pednekar finishes shooting for ‘Raksha Bandhan’
Actress says the movie is reunion with ‘special people’ — Aanand L Rai and Akshay Kumar
Bollywood star Bhumi Pednekar has completed the Mumbai schedule of her next film titled ‘Raksha Bandhan’. The actress recently opened up about reuniting with “the most special people” in her life for the upcoming movie.
Pednekar has been paired opposite superstar Akshay Kumar in ‘Raksha Bandhan’, which is their second film together after the 2017 blockbuster ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’.
Interestingly, Pednekar is collaborating with Aanand L. Rai, the producer of her hit film ‘Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’, who will be directing her in ‘Raksha Bandhan’.
Speaking about reuniting with Rai, she said: “‘Raksha Bandhan’ is my reunion with the most special people in my life! Anand Rai sir is a guru for me, who trusted my abilities as an actor when I had just started out and I will forever be grateful to him for the opportunity he gave me to shine through in ‘Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’. So, I’m delighted that I have got an opportunity to work with him again.”
The ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ star also spoke about collaborating with Kumar again after the duo shared screen space in ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’. The two have also worked together on Pednekar’s ‘Durgamati’, on which Kumar served as co-producer.
“Akshay Kumar sir gave me a film that became my first blockbuster. He believed in me in ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ and our pairing won hearts. He has instilled a sense of belief in me that has propelled me to excel in this industry. So, naturally, I was thrilled when I got to know that I will be acting with him again in ‘Raksha Bandhan,’” she said.
The actor is confident that ‘Raksha Bandhan’ will appeal to audiences of all age groups.
She said, “It’s a script that will touch everyone’s hearts and I’m hoping that my pairing with Akshay sir will be loved again!”
‘Raksha Bandhan’ is a story of the bond between a brother (Kumar) and his sisters, essayed by Sahejmeen Kaur, Deepika Khanna, Sadia Khateeb and Smrithi Srikanth. The film went into production on June 21.
The film is written by Rai’s longtime collaborator and National Award-winning screenwriter Himanshu Sharma, known for movies like ‘Zero’, ‘Raanjhanaa’ and the ‘Tanu Weds Manu’ franchise.
Apart from ‘Raksha Bandhan’, Pednekar also has ‘Badhaai Do’ with Rajkummar Rao and ‘Mr Lele’ with Vicky Kaushal in the pipeline.