MUMBAI: Whenever Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar have teamed up, they have managed to wow audiences. Bala is their third film together and like their previous two-hit outings Dum Laga Ke Haisha and Shubh Mangal Saavdhaan, it seems they are set to score a hattrick of hits with the phenomenal start that Bala has taken at the box office.

Bhumi says, “I’m just an actor prepared to challenge myself at every given opportunity. When I read the script of Bala, I was blown over by the fact that my character is the voice of reason for the protagonist, a catalyst for change and I immediately connected with the social message that our film was trying to give to audiences.“

Bhumi reveals that she doesn’t agree with people who keep telling her that playing a dark-skinned character was a brave decision on her part. She says, “Everyone has been telling me that I have been brave to play this role but I have been telling them that I see myself as an artist, someone who wants to shed herself and become a character in the film because that’s what is important. I can’t always be thinking about how I’m looking on screen because I will do a disservice to the vision of the film and the character I have willingly chosen to do.”

Of course, Bhumi is thrilled with the adulation that her acting is getting from critics and audiences alike. She says, “I’m delighted that my character is getting so much love and adulation and is being praised for standing her ground in a stereotyped society, becoming a mirror to prejudices and telling everyone that self-respect and self-love is all that should matter.”

Lastly, Bhumi praises her full team on Bala’s superb start at the box office. “It is an art to deliver a strong message while entertaining audiences thoroughly and our director Amar Kaushik has managed to do it brilliantly. I congratulate Amar, Ayushmann, Yami, Dinesh Vijan, our powerful cast members and everyone associated with the film on the superb start it has got at the box office,” she says.