At her first public event since winning the National Film Award, Yami Gautam spoke about responsibility and staying grounded but kept any bigger ambitions firmly to herself.
Yami Gautam walked into the Nayyi Navelli trailer launch in Mumbai on Tuesday and, before anyone could ask about the film, got the National Award question instead. It was her first public appearance since she picked up the Best Actress honour at the 72nd National Film Awards for Article 370, and reporters wanted to know what changes when the President of India hands you a trophy.
Her answer: quite a bit, actually.
"I will be lying if I say that nothing has changed," she said, according to Bollywood Hungama. She spoke about feeling an added weight as an actor now, about wanting to push harder and be more diverse with her choices, and about the award being, in her words, a "true validation" that cuts across language and format. She also made a point of crediting the team around her, saying she sees herself as much a collaborator as a performer.
Then came the question everyone in the room was clearly waiting for. Was she setting her sights on an Oscar next?
Yami didn't bite. "Aapke sapne sirf aapko aur aapke mann ko pata hona chahiye," she said, more or less telling the journalist that her ambitions are her own business. She followed it with a line about letting the work speak, which is the kind of answer that sounds humble and gives away nothing at the same time.
Asked if the award had changed how grounded she feels, she reached for a Hindi phrase about keeping her feet on the ground, literally, and tied it back to something she says she's picked up watching senior actors over the years: fame comes and goes, but humility is the one thing that's actually in your hands.
The event itself was packed. Adinath Kothare, Sushmita Mukherjee and Mita Vashisht were there alongside director Balaji Mohan and producers Nikhil Madhok, Aanand L Rai and Himanshu Sharma, all turning up for a trailer that's being sold on Yami playing a character called Mohini, described by the makers as warm, mysterious and more than a little mischievous.
It's worth remembering what got her into this room in the first place. Article 370, in which she played NIA officer Zooni Haksar, also won Best Feature Film at the same ceremony, with her husband Aditya Dhar accepting that award. Yami has called the recognition the biggest validation of her career so far, and by the sound of Tuesday's press interaction, she's not done chasing more of it, Oscar talk or no Oscar talk.
Nayyi Navelli opens in cinemas on October 16, which means audiences get to judge Mohini for themselves soon enough.
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