Yami Gautam feels relieved that she is finally getting the opportunity to be a part of diverse films that let her break the “pretty girl” mold that the industry had slotted her in. Gautam who made her Hindi film debut in 2012 with “Vicky Donor” starred in movies like “Badlapur” and “Kaabil”.
However, the actor earned widespread acclaim for her role as an undercover agent in 2019’s “Uri: The Surgical Strike” and as a TikTok star in the comedy drama “Bala”.
Talking about being stereotyped as the “pretty girl” the actress said, “I was always looking for such scripts and challenging parts but wasn’t getting those opportunities earlier. For some good amount of time I was in the bracket of a sweet, pretty girl, a damsel in distress. I found myself stuck there, I didn’t know how to get out. I didn’t know how to convey… I felt, why judge me or take me for maybe the way I come across.”
Gautam said that for a long time she was constantly told to socialise and network to land more roles, something she never felt comfortable with. The actress, instead, chose to wait it out for meatier parts to come her way. Yami revealed she had signed on “Kaabil” with the hope that the “performance oriented role” would show the makers her potential but she didn’t get the kind of opportunities she was looking for.
Gautam saw the biggest hit of her career with “Uri”. She then realised that an actor can shine even in a role with limited screen time. “I know it was a small part but I have never shrugged away from doing that in my career. If the script is good, if it’s a substantial role, I will do it.
“We look up to international films — which have some of the best ensemble cast coming together — where they don’t judge anyone according to the duration of (their parts). Some of the biggest actors do that, so why do we have the fear of getting typecast if you do this?” she was quoted saying.
The actor currently features in the adventure horror-comedy “Bhoot Police”, streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. “It was an entertaining script. I knew that if done right, a horror comedy can be a nice family watch. It might look that, ‘Oh it is just comedy’, but it is challenging because horror comedy is a hard genre. Not only your performance but even your sound has to be correct, prosthetics have to be correct. All these elements have to be in sync. When it comes to comedy, you need to have solid material and an actor who can pull it off. Saif, for example, is so natural, you give him any line and he can make it sound so quirky and funny,” she said about the film.
Yami currently has 3 more films in her kitty including social comedy “Dasvi”, thriller “A Thursday” and investigative drama “Lost”.
