Men's attitude towards women changing slowly: Bhumi Pednekar

Bollywood actress Bhumi Pednekar, who earlier put on weight for her debut film "Dum Laga Ke Haisha" and has now come out with a new well-sculpted body for her two upcoming films, says she felt equally beautiful when she was fuller because all the men around her made her feel comfortable.

Bhumi believes men in the country are slowly but surely changing their attitude towards women.

Asked whether men look at her differently after she lost weight, Bhumi told IANS: "You know when I was bigger in size, I was getting equal attention from men, nobody made me feel uncomfortable by looking at me in a different way."

"I wore clothes that I wanted to, and flaunted my skin as per my wish. That's why my confidence was high even then. That is why I would like to say that men's attitude towards women is slowly but steadily changing," Bhumi added.

The actress, who started her career as an assistant casting director with Yash Raj Films, believes that was the best training ground she had to understand the craft of cinema.

"I do not want to change any part of my story. If today, people ask me to choose between working in YRF for five years before debuting in Bollywood or wait for the opportunity for a dream debut with a song-dance saga film, I would choose the earlier any day."

"From taking audition to working with the creative team, production design, I got expose to every aspect of film making -- both are important to become a good actor. Coming from a regular middle class family, I think I am very fortunate," Bhumi said.

Having grown up watching movies of legendary filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Bimal Roy, Bhumi said this is the right phase of Hindi cinema where an actress like her can make a space.

"Not that I haven't grooved with the peppy songs of 'Khalnayak' and 'Rangeelaa', but my love for cinema has come from watching a lot of Ray, Mukherjee, Benegal among others; because my mother loved watching those films and we used to watch them together," Bhumi said.

"In last five years, the way our Bollywood has changed, it is amazing. Whether it is 'Neerja', 'Piku', 'Mardaani' or 'Dum Laga Ke Haisha', good stories have been told. It is the right time for me to be here," she added.

The actress will next be seen alongside Akshay Kumar in upcoming film "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha", which is slated for a release on August 11.