‘The Royals’ backlash forced Bhumi Pednekar into a 9-month break

Bhumi Pednekar hasn’t been on the screen since her much-criticised turn in the ‘Netflix India’ show ‘The Royals’ last May. While the series has been renewed for another season, the actress revealed that the harsh criticism towards her performance affected her to the extent that she had to take a nine-month break from acting immediately.

“There was a lot of trolling, a lot of bots. But between all of that, there was a lot of constructive criticism as well. And that was one experience that got me to take some really drastic decisions for my life in 2025. One of them was taking a break. I didn’t announce it because I didn’t want to dramatise it,” confessed Bhumi.

She claimed that she’d been constantly at it for 10 years since her memorable debut as Sandhya in Sharat Kataria’s 2015 romantic drama ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’. She gained 30 kg to play that part and physical transformation for her roles has been a constant endeavour since then. “It’s not just about physical transformation. It’s also about what you go through emotionally and mentally every time you prepare for a character,” added Bhumi in the interview with ‘The Hollywood Reporter India’.

“I had become emotionally depleted. I’d completely lost perspective of who I am as an actor, as a person, who is Bhumi. So, I had to step back. In that noise, I had to find people who were my well-wishers who had truly something constructive to say,” said Bhumi. She then reflected on what the next 10 years of her life are going to look like.

“I took a break. I haven’t been on a set since June. Many times, when an actor admits to that, there’s a lot of negative connotations attached to it. But it was something I did voluntarily and it’s the best decision I’ve taken for myself,” added Bhumi. She watched movies, read books, took a course at Harvard University and travelled extensively to build on her bank of life experiences.