Bhumi Pednekar talks about how you can contribute to save the planet
Bhumi Pednekar has been one of the most woke and active voices in Bollywood when it comes to talking about climate change and what you can do to save the Earth from any further damage. She successfully runs her social media advocacy platform Climate Warrior that aims to educate people about climate change and during the second wave of COVID-19 crisis in India, she also launched an initiative COVID Warrior that has saved many lives across India. Talking about the damage that is already done and how to regenerate nature and resources, Bhumi answered some burning questions about the climate crisis. Read on…
You take the threat of climate change very seriously. How has your upbringing shaped the advocate that you have become for our planet?
I feel that every part of me even the person I am today is a complete sum of all my life experiences, and most of them come from what I have seen at home. I remember when we were children and I was in school and our country was hit by a natural calamity our parents would send us for drives to collect donations so that we could give back to the people affected. So, I have seen this from a very young age. I have seen my father always go out and help his community and I have seen my mother show extreme compassion towards people around her. So, I think this is something that came naturally to me from them and I feel that’s so important. I feel that everything we see in our childhood is what we practice in our adult life and I am thankful to my parents for opening up this world to me.
Influential artists like you have the power to bring about positive changes. Is that why you are so vocal about this glaring issue?
Absolutely. I feel like especially when you are in a place of power and when you are in a place of influence, it is your duty to give back. It is not fair to be selfish and keep all that you have gained. Especially for me, I feel like artists and as actors, the place where I am today is because of so many people that have supported my art and that have loved my work and there is no way that I can ignore them. I feel that it is my responsibility to give back and I try doing that through various ways in my personal life and also through the films that I do because I feel like my work and my art needs to reflect what I believe in. That does not mean specifically me or the characters I portrat but at the end of it, the narrative of the story needs to bring about a certain amount of positive change in the way my audience looks at things.
It is not always easy to speak your mind in a divided world such as this. What makes you want to lead from the front on important social issues such as climate change.
