Actress Bhumi Pednekar is gearing up for her next release, the heroine-centric Durgavati. The wait is exciting as well as nerve-racking because this is the first time she will be toplining a film alone.

“It is the first time that I am helming a film alone and it is exciting as well as nerve-racking. There is a lot of responsibility on me,” Bhumi said.

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“I have always had a co-star to share the responsibility with, and now I am helming this film. I am really excited to see how people react to this. I have never looked like this. People have never seen me in this avatar,” she said about starring in the horror film.

Bhumi is also set to start shooting for “Badhaai Do”, part two to the Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer “Badhaai Ho”. Ayushmann and Bhumi have scored hits with “Dum Laga Ke Haisha”, “Shubh Mangal Saavdhan” and “Bala” in the past.

“He was my first hero,” says Bhumi, referring to the fact that she made her Bollywood debut in the 2015 release, “Dum Laga Ke Haisha”, and adds: “Out of the eight films I have done in four years, three have been with him! He is a dear friend and I am fond of him. I feel happy when I see where he has reached. He really deserves it because he has had such a long journey.”

Bhumi adds the three films she has done with Ayushmann have “really been true to their genre”.

“I feel lucky because we have created a space with each other that is rare. I love collaborating with him because we are likeminded and our value system is similar. Till date it has been a 100 per cent success rate and I hope it stays that way,” she said.

Bhumi is satisfied doing the meaningful cinema she has been a part of. “I feel fortunate that I’ve never been on a film set and felt like why am I here? I don’t want to be unhappy doing the work I do and that has never happened. I have never been part of a film I felt is not correct,” she said.

Bhumi says as an actor her profession comes with a certain responsibility. “There is a lot that needs to change and if I can use my craft, my voice, the medium that I have been given by God to bring about a positive change around me, I will be a lucky person. The priority is to entertain the audience but I always make sure I leave them with more than a couple of laughs,” says Bhumi.