Yami Gautam remembers funny theatre incident from her early acting days

Bollywood actress Yami Gautam, who is fresh off the success of her recent film ‘Haq,’ has recollected an incident from her early days in theatre when she went horribly wrong with the lines yet made a solid impact. The actress spoke with media during the promotions of ‘Haq,’ and shared how she delivered a line in a very unusual way that left the room in splits.

She told the media, “I remember there was a new theatre teacher at school, and theatre was just being introduced. There was a line that I still remember, ‘Keep still, you little devil, or I will slit your throat’.

Now there were 35 of us, the students, and everyone had to say their lines in their own way, and then it would be your turn again. I said it in such a weird way once that everyone burst out laughing. I was being very serious on my part. She was like, ‘You sounded like a street, like a pocket man’. I said, ‘I don’t know what else to do, but at least you remember my lines. I gave it a shot’”.

She also spoke about how a director streamlines the story, and keeps the narrative on track. She feels actors are the means to achieve the vision of the director.

She said, “The director is there to hold you back. You can perform a character in 10 different ways, and there’s nothing right or wrong in those 10 different ways. But, we are in the director’s world, we are an illustration on screen of the director, so we as actors have to follow their vision, and that is the fun”.

Talking about ‘Haq,’ the film is inspired from the landmark case of Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum. Shah Bano, a 62-year-old Muslim woman, sought maintenance from her husband after being divorced through triple talaq. The Supreme Court ruled in her favor under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code, stating that maintenance applies to all citizens irrespective of religion.

Yami Gautam is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. The daughter of film director Mukesh Gautam, she began her career as a model, and starred in television soap operas such as Chand Ke Paar Chalo (2008 — 2009) and Yeh Pyar Na Hoga Kam (2009 — 2010).

After making her film debut in the Kannada film Ullasa Utsaha (2010), she had her first Hindi film release in the comedy-drama Vicky Donor (2012), which won her the Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut.

Gautam earned acclaim for her supporting roles in the thrillers Badlapur (2015) and Kaabil (2017), and greater success came for starring in the war film Uri: The Surgical Strike and the satire Bala (both 2019). She starred in the streaming films Bhoot Police (2021), A Thursday (2022), Dasvi (2022), and Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga (2023), and had further commercial success in the comedy film OMG 2 (2023) and the political thriller Article 370 (2024).

Yami Gautam was born in a Hindu Brahmin family in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh and was brought up in Chandigarh. Her father Mukesh Gautam is a Punjabi film director. He is the chief advisor of PTC Network. Her mother is Anjali Gautam. She has a younger sister Surilie Gautam, who made her big screen debut with the Punjabi film Power Cut. She also has a younger brother, Ojas Gautam.

Agencies