Today is the birthday of Bollywood actress Yami Gautam. Yami, who has done 27 films, apart from Hindi, has also worked in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films. Her acting career started with television shows.
Her debut film was Vicky Donor, for which he had to audition twice and then got the role. The film was successful and Yami went on to do some more great films like Badlapur, A Thursday and Kaabil.
Yami is one of those actresses who came into the film industry without any film background and managed to make her place, but she also had to face a lot of rejection. In her initial days, she was removed from a TV show just because she asked a question to the makers.
In 2018, Yami had decided to leave Bollywood and work in some other field, but films like Uri: The Surgical Strike and Bala encouraged her and now she is one of the successful actresses of the industry. This year she was seen in the film OMG 2.
Yami Gautam was born in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh. However, she grew up in Chandigarh. When asked about her childhood days, she said- Some of my teachers never thought that I would be a part of this film industry. I could not recite even a single poem properly during my school days.
I had stage phobia. She used to get nervous seeing too many people in front of her. She also stayed away from public speaking and co-curricular activities. The reason was that I lacked confidence. Although I was very good in studies.
With time, my inclination started towards films. After watching a movie, I used to practice its scenes secretly in the room. She also started participating in school pledges, but that was all. After this the entire focus was on studies.
Right from the beginning I don’t like being in the spotlight. The biggest reason for this is that I belong to a middle class family. I have had a very simple upbringing. My parents have given me a very good education.
Yami also talked about the best birthday ever. She said- Birthdays celebrated in childhood are still special today. I used to wake up early in the morning. Used to wait for mom and dad to wish. All the friends used to gather in the evening for celebration. The funniest thing is that she used to do the birthday decoration herself. That day, I had the most beautiful dress and everyone’s eyes were on me.
On every birthday, the cake used to come from a fixed shop, such a cake is not available in any corner of the world today. Its taste still seems to be the best. Today we celebrate birthdays in a very fancy way. But the real fun came in childhood itself, where the whole family used to celebrate birthdays together happily.
There is another birthday, which is very close to my heart. After marriage two years ago, I was shooting in Delhi. After finishing the shooting, I reached the hotel at 4 in the morning. It seemed that mother would open the door, but it did not happen. As soon as the door opened, Aditya was standing in front. I became very happy to see him in front of me. This birthday was also very special for me.
The most beautiful thing from childhood that Yami still remembers is going to her grandmother’s house during summer holidays. She says about this – At this time all the cousins from everywhere used to gather at grandmother’s house. We even forgot to sleep. Nani used to make something special for us every day.
Yami became emotional while talking all these things. Then I asked how Yami, who dreamed of becoming an IAS, got inclined towards acting. On this she says – Whatever is written in destiny, we get it in future. Deep down I wanted to come into this field. Friends only knew that I do very good mimicry.
Then with the help of luck, I reached Mumbai from Chandigarh through audition. The first break I got was in a TV show. Although that show did not last long, I am thankful that they gave me this opportunity. When the offer for this show came, I was still studying. Then with the support of parents she progressed in this field.
Yami started her acting career with TV shows. Her first three shows were taken off air early. On this she says, every day my character was the same. Every day I was crying in the same character. I wanted to do something different from all these things. Wanted to turn to films.
The set of my show was near Film City. During lunch time, I used to talk to the executive producer of the show and go to some places for audition. After some time, I also joined Kathak class during lunch break. I didn’t want to limit myself. There was a desire to do something new.
Then I took time for 6 months. I told my parents that I will devote these six months to my acting career. Still, if things don’t work out, then I will do a job where there will be stability. During this time, she used to go to auditions the whole day. Got a lot of rejections, but didn’t give up.
During the audition, Yami was selected in a show, but she raised a question in a scene, due to which even after being selected, she was thrown out of the show. On this she laughs and says – Yes, this is absolutely correct. On the first day of the show, I had asked a question regarding a scene, then everyone’s eyes were on me that how could I ask a question. Then I went to the set the next day, took the script and was reading it, but no one was calling me for the shot. Then a person came and said- You can go home.
Yami made her Bollywood debut with the film Vicky Donor. Regarding the offer of this film, she says- Auditions for 3-4 films were being held simultaneously, out of which Vicky Donor was also a film. Casting director Jogi ji was taking auditions. For some reason I could audition only for Vicky Donor. Jogi ji liked my work very much. He called and told that the film’s director Shoojit Sircar wanted to see the audition of each other’s scene. I also gave that audition and got selected.
After the selection, I wanted to know about the story of the film from Jogi ji. He refused to tell and said- read the script. I read the script, loved the story and wondered how one could weave such a beautiful story on such an issue. The family liked the story of the film very much.
If I talk about the turning point of my career, it came after the film Uri: The Surgical Strike. I and the film’s director Aditya Dhar, who is also my husband, both of us believe that it is a bit difficult to make another film like that after Uri.
Secondly, in the same year 2019, the film Bala was released. No one believed that I could do comedy. Then I appeared in the film Thursday, which also brought many big changes in my life. Yami is of very reserved nature. Even the paparazzi rarely get a chance to cover them. She rarely attends Bollywood parties or any event. On this she says- I keep work and my personal life very separate.
It is very important to have honesty in the kind of work I am doing or will do. I don’t mix things up even in my work. I live every role openly. I am not blaming anyone, everyone has their own point of view, but today market value is being given more importance. You should trend on social media, there should be glamorous photos. A lot of good things should be written about you. It is important to go to every award function.
I am not saying that I am different from these things. I am also aware of everything, but all these things do not give me happiness. It doesn’t feel good to hear praise for the same work again and again.
I don’t like to go in front of paparazzi. People say that it is important to go to award functions and parties, on the basis of that one gets new projects, but I do not believe in these things. I think I can get the job based on my previous work. I would rather focus on my work than getting caught in the limelight.
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