Yami Gautam

Yami Gautam Dhar is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi cinema, with additional credits in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Punjabi films. She rose to prominence with her debut Hindi feature Vicky Donor (2012) and has since established herself with performances in films such as Kaabil (2017), Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), Bala (2019) and A Thursday (2022).

Key facts

Early life and background

Yami Gautam was born on 28 November 1988 in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, into a Hindu Brahmin family with roots in the state. Her father, Mukesh Gautam, is a Punjabi film director, while her younger sister Surilie Gautam is also an actress. The family later relocated to Chandigarh, where Yami completed her schooling. She studied at the Government College for Girls in Chandigarh, affiliated with Panjab University, and initially intended to pursue a career in the civil services before shifting to acting.

Career

Television and early work

Gautam began her on-screen career in television in the late 2000s. She appeared in serials such as Chand Ke Paar Chalo on NDTV Imagine and Yeh Pyar Na Hoga Kam on Colors TV. She also featured in regional South Indian films, including the Telugu film Ullasamga Utsahamga (2008) and the Kannada film Ullasa Utsaha (2010), and appeared in Tamil and Malayalam productions early in her career.

Hindi film debut and breakthrough

She made her Hindi film debut in 2012 with Shoojit Sircar's Vicky Donor, opposite Ayushmann Khurrana. The film, produced by John Abraham, was a critical and commercial success and earned her several debutante awards. She subsequently appeared in Total Siyapaa (2014) opposite Ali Zafar and Action Jackson (2014) with Ajay Devgn.

Established career

In 2017, Gautam played a visually impaired woman opposite Hrithik Roshan in Sanjay Gupta's Kaabil, which performed well at the box office. She featured in Aditya Dhar's directorial debut Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), based on the 2016 Indian Army surgical strikes across the Line of Control. The film was a major commercial success.

The same year, she appeared in Amar Kaushik's Bala opposite Ayushmann Khurrana, playing a TikTok influencer, and in Ginny Weds Sunny on Netflix in 2020. In 2022, she headlined the streaming film A Thursday, directed by Behzad Khambata, in which she played a schoolteacher who takes a class of children hostage. She subsequently led the courtroom drama Dasvi (2022) and the espionage thriller Article 370 (2024), the latter set against the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir.

Selected filmography

Personal life

Yami Gautam married filmmaker Aditya Dhar, who directed her in Uri: The Surgical Strike, on 4 June 2021 in a private ceremony. The couple's son was born in 2024. Gautam has spoken publicly about living with keratosis pilaris, a skin condition.

Other work

Beyond films, Gautam has been a prominent face in Indian advertising, endorsing brands across cosmetics, consumer products and apparel. She has also been associated with public-interest campaigns including those related to women's safety and education in Himachal Pradesh.

Significance

Gautam is regarded as part of a generation of Hindi film actresses who emerged in the 2010s through content-driven cinema rather than mainstream star vehicles. Her choices have included socially themed films and women-led streaming productions, contributing to the broader shift in Hindi cinema toward narrative-led storytelling on OTT platforms.

Related topics

• Vicky Donor
• Uri: The Surgical Strike
• Aditya Dhar
• Ayushmann Khurrana
• Hindi Cinema
• Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh
• Article 370