Actress Bhumi Pednekar, the brand new Yash Raj find, is the opposite of size zero. In this, she is also the opposite of the traditional Yash Raj heroine who has always been impossibly beautiful, exquisitely dressed and (mostly) thin. Bhumi is none of these.
This is also why everybody is talking about her. Bhumi, a former Yash Raj Films staffer, filled in as heroine in several auditions to cast the male lead of new film Dum Laga Ke Haisha. Really, it was she being auditioned and the unsuspecting Bhumi found herself cast as the overweight Sandhya married to Prem, played by Ayushmann Khurrana, who is initially repulsed by his new bride.
Here's why the repulsion - Sandhya, dressed in a colorful, kitschy wardrobe, is very definitely plus-sized. She's a large girl, and it is precisely because she's no reed-like Bollywood waif that Bhumi is important. She's both a sign of the Bollywood that could be and a signpost to help it on its way to a destination where actresses are more than the sum of their faces, figures and their talent for dance.
Here are 13 Yash Raj heroines who came before, and how Bhumi Pednekar is breaking the mould.
Waheeda Rehman and Raakhee: The very first Yash Raj heroines, Waheeda Rehman and Raakhee starred in Kabhi Kabhie together and separately in films like Daag and Mashaal. They were always elegant, graceful and immaculately turned out. How Bhumi is not at all like them: She's cheerfully loud and uninhibited. There's nothing understated about her.
Poonam Dhillon: As the tragic, dreamy-eyed Kashmiri belle Noorie, Poonam Dhillon was the object of the affections of two men. How Bhumi is not at all like her: She's not tragic. She's not dreamy-eyed. She's not the object of anybody's affection, at least to start with.
Rekha: As Silsilakajal
Sridevi: ChandniSilsilaDum Laga Ke Haisha
Kajol and Madhuri Dixit: In Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Rani Mukerji: Yash Raj's most repeated heroine has been cast in nine or so films beginning with 2002's Mujhse Dosti Karoge!
Anushka Sharma: Like Bhumi, Anushka made her debut with Yash Raj Films. Also like Bhumi, she played a married woman in her first film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Parineeti Chopra: Perhaps the Yash Raj heroine most similar to Bhumi, bubbly, girl-next-door Parineeti doesn't conform to the Bollywood body image standard either. How Bhumi is not at all like her: Unlike Bhumi's homely Sandhya, Parineeti's debut role in Ladies vs Ricky Bahl
Katrina Kaif: Years after the white chiffon sari was retired, Katrina Kaif resurrected it in director Yash Chopra's swan song Jab Tak Hai Jaan
Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra: These former models, impossibly telegenic and glamorous, came late to the Yash Raj party, starring in Bachna Ae HaseenoGunday
