Bhumi Pednekar recalls getting 'inappropriately touched' in public during her teenage years

As Bollywood star Bhumi Pednekar gears up for the premiere of her upcoming crime thriller, Bhakshak, slated for release on Netflix on February 9, the actress shared a deeply personal account in an interview with Hauterrfly. Pednekar's candid revelation shed light ontraumatic incidents from her teenage years.

During the interview, Bhumi recounted an unsettling experience that happened when she was just 14 years old. While attending a fair in Bandra with her family, she became a victim of inappropriate touching by a stranger amidst the crowded event. The actress revealed the horrificimpact of the incident on her over the years.

Pednekar said, "I remember this very very clearly. In Bandra, fairs used to happen back then. I was a teenager, probably 14, and was with my family. I knew what was happening… it’s not like I was unaware. I was walking and somebody kept pinching my a*s. Though I looked back, I couldn’t understand who did it because it was very crowded. Somebody tried touching me inappropriately again and again and I was getting paranoid. Though I was with my family, there also was a whole bunch of kids from my building as well. But I didn’t say anything at that time because I was thrown off by what had happened.”

Add WION as a Preferred Source

"I still remember how that felt. I remember the poking and the pinching. It’s like your body remembers… these are traumas that you can’t get over," she recalled.

Beyond her own experience, Bhumi highlighted the broader issue of harassment and shared instances of friends facing similar situations, such as public flashing and inappropriate behaviour around school premises.

"Many a time, you won’t even understand who did it because you are in the midst of a crowd. I have friends who have been flashed, right outside school itself. When we were in school, there was an autorickshaw driver in Juhu. This wasn’t right outside the school but around that area. We used to walk back home during that time. He would ‘do his business’ (in front of us). This is a sickness. How do you reach that stage of such heightened emotion that you think this is normal? A lot of it comes from education," she mentioned.

Discussing the paralysing effect of such incidents, Bhumi said, "At that moment, you are so paralysed and traumatised, you just don’t know what to do… You feel so violated."

In her upcoming film Bhakshak,Bhumi plays the role ofa struggling localjournalist who is trying to save girls from sexual abuse.The film is helmed by Pulkit and it also stars Sanjay Mishra and Aditya Srivastav.