Yami Gautam on movies and motherhood 

Yami Gautam expresses her excitement over the box office success and critical acclaim for the film ‘Article 370.’ The actress, who transitioned from the television industry to a successful film career, shares insights into her journey and discusses the significant milestone of embracing motherhood. In an exclusive interview with Lipika Varma, Yami delves into the genre-defining nature of ‘Article 370’ and reflects on its impact and success in the film industry.

Excerpts-

Transitioning from the most desirable woman to now embracing motherhood, what’s your perspective on your industry growth journey?

When you look at the things happening and changing around you, you realise that you have been working hard and how far you’ve come; all in all, I can say it’s been a good journey. I am satisfied and happy about everything that has happened so far and all my experiences. The idea is always to embrace life, and I always thank God for it.

After Shahrukh Khan, I think you are the only one from the television industry with such high success on the big screen. What do you have to say about doing well on celluloid?

Even though I worked for a brief time in television, I never thought of myself as a television actor. I was that new; I didn’t know the difference between television and film acting. I just knew I enjoyed this and wanted to do it as a career. As things progressed, I needed to stretch my wings and look for endless possibilities. I always had my parents’ support, but financially caring for myself, especially in a new city, was challenging. I learned to step out of my comfort zone and start auditioning. It took some time to get good work, but I did a few e-commercials. It was a different kind of exposure. Then followed Vicky Donor, and it was a different story after that.

Aditya Dhar has chosen a very serious, sensitive subject for the film Article 370; however, the film has excellent B.O. results, any comments?

We work in an industry where it’s all about creating films, visuals, and emotions. Aditya has always taken a keen interest in writing and has written ‘Uri’ and co-written this film. Article 370 was a national event when it happened, but what we saw was only the information present in the public domain. Even being a non-Kashmiri, speaking of myself and on behalf of many of my friends and relatives, somewhere, it felt good; it felt that something right had been done after whatever happened in the past. Especially after knowing Aditya, I could relate even more because I got to understand and hear some stories from him and their experiences in 1990. The reality is far more gruesome, sometimes more than what we might have read. So, when I was offered this film and read the script, I was absolutely amazed.

On the genre of Article 370-

The story is based on true events; as an audience, it’s more philosophy. Because you keep imagining something like this and why this is important, what is the meaning of 370, and what is the consequence of what happened? I personally think it’s essential, especially for the current generation and youth, to know and understand such historic events.
I think it’s an important film, not just as a part of cinema, but as history. I call this kind of cinema a genre-defining film because there aren’t many films like this that I can give examples of. The way the film was made and simplified is also very important.

On simplification of the storyline being a hit formula-

We have the longest constitution in the world; it can be very complex for anyone to understand. You can simplify it and break it down so that the audience can engage with it and understand the history of this country, why this happened, and what happened. So, of course, it will have action and everything, but at the heart of it, it’s a significant chapter in our political history.

On scripting mantra-

When it comes to writing, Aditya likes to do it by himself. Of course, he has a team, and they all research and exchange ideas, but primarily, he likes to lead it. When it comes to the actors, when it comes to me, he is always open to ideas and suggestions and logic. He’s a very logical person. Either there’s a solution to something, or there isn’t a solution. If you’re saying something that makes sense, give me logic and visa-versa, which stands for anyone. He’s very close to his team members; they are always discussing, exploring, and figuring out new ways to improve it. That’s one of his critical things: he cannot settle for anything mediocre or less than excellent.