Bhumi Pednekar felt ‘numb, lost’ after The Royals criticism, reveals taking break from acting: ‘I was like can I act?’

Bhumi Pednekar faced criticism for her role in The Royals, prompting a nine-month break from acting to regain perspective.

Actor Bhumi Pednekar received heavy criticism for her performance in The Royals, which was released in May 2025. Since then, the actor has not been seen much on screen. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Bhumi revealed that the harsh criticism of her performance left her numb and prompted her to take a nine-month break from acting.

Ishaan Khatter and Bhumi Pednekar in The Royals

Bhumi Pednekar says The Royals criticism made her numb

Speaking about the backlash she faced despite the series being a hit, Bhumi admitted that she had gone numb. She said there was a lot of trolling, but also some constructive criticism, and that the experience led her to take a few “drastic decisions” in 2025.

She said, “One of them was taking a break. I didn’t announce it because I didn’t want to dramatise it. 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, and in that noise, I had to find people who were my well-wishers and who truly had something constructive to say. I took a break. I haven’t been on a set since June.”

Bhumi revealed that she took the break voluntarily and called it the best decision she could have made for herself. During this time, she watched films, read books, took a course at Harvard and travelled to build her bank of life experiences.

She added, “I didn’t have any real experiences left in me that I could extend to my craft, and that scared me. One of the biggest fears I have always had is that I don’t ever want to be mediocre, and I think I reached there. It was important for me to accept that and not be in denial, because I know what I’m capable of doing. I went back and watched some of my work because I was lost. I was like, can I actually act? Do I have it in me?” The actor further revealed that while she was glad people watched The Royals, the harsh criticism had “shaken” her.

About The Royals

Helmed by Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana and written by Neha Veena Sharma, The Royals is a romantic comedy drama that follows a financially struggling royal family in modern-day India whose fortunes take an unexpected turn when the heir teams up with a hospitality entrepreneur to revive their ancestral palace as a luxury resort. The series, which also stars Ishaan Khatter, Zeenat Aman, Sakshi Tanwar, Nora Fatehi, Vihaan Samat, Dino Morea and Milind Soman, is available to watch on Netflix and has been renewed for a second season.

Bhumi Pednekar’s upcoming work

Bhumi is all set to play a police officer in Prime Video’s upcoming series, Daldal. Helmed by Amrit Raj Gupta, the show is based on Vish Dhamija’s bestselling book Bhendi Bazaar. It also stars Samara Tijori and Aditya Rawal in lead roles, along with Geeta Agrawal, Chinmay Mandlekar, Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, Rahul Bhat, Sandeep Kulkarni, Shivraj Walvekar, Sandesh Kulkarni and Jaya Bhattacharya in supporting roles. The series is scheduled to premiere on January 30.