I wish to explore Portuguese Goa: Yami Gautam

Actress, Yami Gautam was down in Goa to launch the MAX fashion store at Margao. NT BUZZ caught up with the actress to know more about her acting journey thus far

VENITA GOMES| NT BUZZ

Goa is always a favourite destination on the maps of many tourists, travellers, holiday goers and actors. Several actors have made more than a couple of trips to this place and have ended up making this tiny paradise a home. Though, Yami Gautam visited Goa long ago for a shoot, she did not get to fully explore. But, she is quite sure that she will make this short trip a memorable one. “Though I came here before to shoot for a song, I never got a chance to experience this place. However, I will make up with this trip,” she says.

One of the very first things Yami wants to try is walking on the streets of Goa. Yes, you heard it right! “When I was studying I would check travel magazines and see photographs of Goa. The colourful streets and the Indo-Portuguese architecture would fascinate me. And I really want to place my feet there and explore the architecture. The streets, the coloured houses, there is so much to explore about Indo-Portuguese culture here in Goa,” adds Yami.

Besides this, Yami is crazy about water sports and wants to experience the water sports activities that Goa has to offer. She also wants to visit the many beaches.

As an actress, Yami has honed her acting skills by working in films of different genres. Back in 2012, she pleased and surprised audiences with her Bollywood debut film ‘Vicky Donor’ in which she played the role of Ashima Roy who marries Vicky who is a sperm donor. After her debut, films like ‘Action Jackson’, ‘Badlapur’, ‘Sanam Re’, ‘Kaabil’, ‘Batti Gul Meter Chalu’ and ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’ came her way. “For me the story is the most important thing. You have to choose good scripts before signing a film. I have worked on different genres. ‘Uri’ was one of the first war films and it was a great success. ‘Vicky Donor’ was a path-breaking film, similarly ‘Badlapur’ was different altogether. Even ‘Kaabil’ was different from the usual. I also look for different characters and some amazing filmmakers to work with,” says Yami.

So far she has worked with some big names from the industry, namely, Varun Dhavan, Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Ajay Devgn, Shahid Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal, and she feels this will add to her experience and will help her in the future. “Every time you work on a film you come across different experiences. Every film leads to some lessons which help you evolve as an actor or grow as a human being. And working with these actors has been challenging for me,” says Yami.

There was a point in Yami’s life when she thought becoming an IAS officer would be a perfect career for her; however destiny had other plans for the young actress. Revealing what led her to acting, she says: “There is something called destiny and things tend to happen. Many a times opportunities knock your door and when you avail those opportunities it is something different altogether. I did the same and went with my gut instinct and here I am today.” When she auditioned for the first time she felt that it was the right place and that was what she wanted to do.

Not just Hindi cinema, the actress has even explored regional cinema and has done around six films in different languages like Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.