Deepali Singh (DNA; January 2, 2019)

The year 2018 saw a number of newbies make their successful debuts, including Janhvi Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan. It’s natural for actresses to feel threatened by the entry of these girls who aren’t just super confident but have also managed to bag a number of projects. When we caught up with Yami Gautam recently and asked her how she deals with competition, the actress admitted that she’s not immune to the feeling of insecurity. “But then again, the kind of person that I am, it’s my duty towards myself to discipline my mind, otherwise, I will be mentally exhausted. It’s not worth it. When I ask myself, ‘Will I trade my life, where I come from, what I have achieved with anyone else?’ The answer is no. I enjoy having an outsider’s perspective,” she stated.

While she has Uri: The Surgical Strike coming up next, Yami’s only release in 2018 was Batti Gul Meter Chalu. Unfortunately, the film didn’t do as well as she would have wanted it to, but the actress says that there was more to last year than just work for her. “I have learned to embrace myself, how to learn and unlearn things, and try and be happy in life,” she said. Has this maturity come with time? “With experience,” she replied. “I was always a bit mature for my age. I understood long ago that films are a part of my life, not my entire life. One needs to have a personality, to have something to talk about and share beyond just where we are. You need to grow as an individual, not just as a professional,” she added.