Badhaai Do, starring Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar, has created quite a stir amongst the audience since the release of its trailer owing to the offbeat issue it attempts to address.
In the midst of actors from the Northeast being constantly stereotyped, we were struck by Chum Darang playing Bhumi Pednekar’s girlfriend in the film.
Chum, an Arunachal Pradesh native, drew attention as she shared screen time with Bhumi and Rajkummar Rao.
Chum Darang expressed how her journey as a northeast actor was fraught with difficulties. She was no alien to cliché roles and had the fear of being typecast.
She said in a interview,
I was offered such roles, like that of a spa employee, and I was scared that if I agreed to do them, I would be typecast. And this is what actors from the northeast fear. Not just in movies, but in day-to-day life as well, things are not easy.
She also recalled how in March 2020, on her way to the venue for the Badhaai Ho audition two boys teased her screaming ‘corona’. She added how the audition bit required her to yell and now we know where the anguish would have come from!
Talking about how she won the part in Badhaai Do, she said that she stumbled upon the casting call on a social media platform ‘randomly.’ She further added,
I saw this casting ad on FB, and I randomly texted the team and went for my auditions and it just happened. The character I am playing is such a fun girl, and the tag of playing Bhumi’s love interest did not bother me. It was a challenge to play a role like that, but I had no inhibitions.
It’s 2022 and it’s high time the artists need to get the role they deserve regardless of their background.