It's a natural phenomenon: When birthday girl Bhumi Pednekar broke taboos, openly spoke about period leave!

New Delhi: Bollywood actress Bhumi Pednekar celebrated her 32nd birthday on Sunday (July 18). The stunning actress, who made her debut in the film 'Dum Laga Ke Haisha', has established herself as an A-lister in Bollywood now. She's given her audiences phenomenal performances with films such as 'Toilet: Ek Prem Katha', 'Shubh Mangal Saavdhan', 'Sonchiriya', 'Bala', and 'Pati Patni Aur Woh'.  For her film, 'Saand Ki Aankh' she had even won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress along with Taapsee Pannu- a notable achievement. 

Along with meaningful movies, she's also been part of social causes and lent her voice to important topics such as environmental protection, global warming, the gender wage gap and women's reproductive health.

Earlier, this year, she had also voiced her opinion on menstrual leave - a taboo topic in most workplaces. In an interview with a leading daily, she opened up on how she fully supports companies that offer menstrual leave to women as it normalises periods in a professional setting. 

She told Times Now, "Every person has a wildly different experience when it comes to periods because it depends on your hormones, your genes, your surroundings, etc. Because of this, I am happy to see that women can avail this option if they feel comfortable with it."

"It doesn’t portray women as weak, but in fact, as people who are confident enough to know their bodies and take a decision for their work," and added, "We all know about maternity and paternity leave, likewise, this is a natural phenomenon," she added.

In the same interview, the actress also spoke about how she manages her period while she's working. According to her, it helps when people around her know she's in her menstrual cycle as it helps them understand her state.

"I usually tell everyone around me that I am on my period - I am comfortable sharing this information because not only does it help me release my anxiety, but the other person is also understanding of it. It normalises the idea that I am a woman who gets her period monthly, and now, slowly, people are opening up about this," she said.

On the work front, the actress will be seen in the Akshay Kumar starter 'Raksha Bandhan' presented by Aanand and Akshay's sister, Alka Bhatia. The film is backed by Colour Yellow Production in association with Cape of Good Films.