Bollywood is a very consuming industry: Yami
Yami Gautam had a dream debut with Vicky Donor (2012), which earned critical acclaim as well as boxoffice success. Six years and seven films later, the actor is happy with her career graph.
Talking about her next project, in which she co-stars with Shahid Kapoor, she says, “This year seems quite interesting, especially with Batti Gul Meter Chalu. The concept is what excited me — it’s a very strong social drama and yet entertaining. I wanted to work with [director] Shree Nayaran Singh. These are the kind of progressive people I want to work with. For me, that’s the only way [ahead].”
Yami’s last major film, Kaabil (2017), saw her play a blind woman in a revenge drama. Is it a conscious attempt to pick subjects that push the envelope, we ask. “If it’s possible to be a part of a film that also sends out a social message, why not? My first film didn’t exactly have a social message, but it focussed on a topic that’s not generally spoken about,” she says.
While it’s a huge motivation when your very first film does well, Yami says that it also means added expectations. “After the success of Vicky Donor... everyone had things to say about what I should do and not do. With so much pressure, you do succumb a bit, because you’re new and suddenly, you have an entourage. It’s very difficult to be grounded but it’s great to be in that space,” says Yami.
In the same breath, she adds, “There was a lot of pressure... but I eventually learned to be calm. Being relaxed doesn’t mean you aren’t passionate about your job. It just means that you learn to manage two lives. If your mind is not calm, there’ll be no clarity, and you can’t let that happen to yourself, because Bollywood is a very consuming industry.”