Yami Gautam on Mohini in Nayyi Navelli

Yami Gautam Finds Balance in Mohini for Nayyi Navelli

The actress opens up about embodying the unpredictable, warm-hearted fantasy character ahead of the film's October 16 release.

By Call Sheet2 hours ago1 min read

Current hype level46

Live site hype

around 2 reading right now · 373 today

Yami Gautam is stepping into a new kind of cinematic territory with Nayyi Navelli, a fantasy family entertainer set to hit theatres on October 16. The film marks her first major foray into genre-blending storytelling after her National Award win for Article 370, and she’s embracing the shift with a character defined by contradiction.

Mohini, the lead role, isn’t just another fairy-tale figure. Yami describes her as someone you could’ve met at home — familiar, warm, deeply human, but also capable of sudden, mischievous turns. "You never quite know what she’s going to do next," she says in an exclusive interview with DNA India. That duality was central to her performance.

Finding balance wasn’t easy. "For me, the most important thing was finding the balance between all these different sides of Mohini," she explains. Director Balaji Mohan played a key role in shaping that vision, offering clarity on who Mohini was within the world of the film. His guidance helped Yami navigate the emotional, humorous, and action-driven layers without tipping into caricature.

She also focused intensely on the physicality of the character. Every detail. From jewellery to hair to clothing, was chosen to make Mohini feel lived-in. "I wanted her to feel like she’d existed long before the story began," Yami says. The goal? To anchor the fantastical in something real, so audiences could believe in her even when she defied logic.

Nayyi Navelli is directed by Balaji Mohan and written by Himanshu Sharma and Divy Nidhi Sharma. It’s produced under Aanand L Rai’s Colour Yellow banner and presented by Amazon MGM Studios. The film arrives just days before Dussehra, positioning it as a festive family outing.

With its mix of humour, heart, and magic, the movie aims to be more than entertainment. It’s a celebration of layered women, of stories where warmth and wonder coexist. And Yami, for one, is ready to let Mohini surprise everyone.