Actress Chum Darang, who plays the role of Bhumi Pednekar's girlfriend in the upcoming film Badhaai Do, in a recent interview with ETimes, said that she had "no inhibitions" about playing the role of an LGBTQ+ character in the film. She added that it was a "challenge" to play the role and said, "I saw this casting ad on FB 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."
Badhaai Do showcases the story of two LGBTQ+ characters - a gay cop (played by Rajkummar Rao) and Bhumi Pednekar, who is dating another woman. Rajkummar and Bhumi decide to get married and live like flatmates in order to avoid pressure from their families and continue to see people that they actually like.
Besides Bhumi Pednekar, Chum Darang and Rajkummar Rao, Badhaai Do also features Seema Pahwa, Sheeba Chaddha, Lovleen Mishra, Nitesh Pandey, Shashi Bhushanand Deepak Arora in pivotal roles.
The film is slated to release in theatres on February 11. It will clash with Shakun Batra's Gehraiyaan, which will release on Amazon Prime Video. The film has been directed by Harshavardhan Kulkarni and it has been co-produced by Vineet Jain and Amrita Pandey.
Speaking of the project earlier, the film's lead actor Bhumi Pednekar told news agency PTI, "There was a lot of sensitivity about the LGBTQI community, which is something I really respected. That came from the writing and the direction. There was not a lot for me to be alert about, which tells you about the maturity and the thinking that has gone behind the writing."
(With inputs from PTI)