Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; November 3, 2019)

Films have kept her busy, but Yami Gautam, like her contemporaries, has a side business on her mind. The actress has a beautiful property in her hometown, Himachal Pradesh, which she says will lead to a ‘fruitful’ venture, quite literally. In a candid chat with BT, she spoke about her upcoming film, Bala, future plans and more. Excerpts from the chat:

You made your Bollywood debut with Ayushmann Khurrana in 2012 with Vicky Donor. Bala reunites the two of you. Has your equation changed? Have the two of you been in touch over the years?
After Vicky Donor, we did a music video together. This time we have teamed up for a movie. We have been in touch, but wouldn’t communicate often, as we have been busy with our respective careers. However, when we met for Bala, the energy was the same as it was in our first film together. Only, earlier we used to hog on the sets, but this time around we were more in control (laughs!). The caterer on the sets of Vicky Donor was really good! We used to gorge on dal makhni, butter chicken, chicken tikka, malai kebab etc. Also, the guest house we were staying at, had a private cook. He knew we loved food and so he would excitedly tell us that he made special kadhi or crispy pakodas for us. You can see in Vicky Donor, how healthy we looked on the screen (laughs!). However, the Punjabiyat in him and the pahadiyat in me, when it comes to food, has taken a backseat now. Now, we are more fitness conscious.

Which parts of the country did you explore while shooting for Bala? Did you also relish some local cuisine, this time around?
Bala has been shot at places like Lucknow and Kanpur. I was a part of the Lucknow schedule where I enjoyed tunday kebab and chaat. They also had this amazing ice-cream, which was served in a patton (leaves) ka bowl; it’s a delicious pista-flavoured ice-cream, which you will find only at a local vendor’s shop. On my day off, I explored the city alone. I visited places like the Bara Imambara, Chota Imambara, and a museum. I also went to the market to buy the chikankari work, which was beautiful.

These days, many films are set and shot in the small towns of India. How’s the experience of shooting at such locations?
Films are set in small towns because people like the stories that come from the heartland. Also, I feel setting films and shooting them in a small town is economical. If a film that is set in a small town, is shot at a real location then you can capture the right flavour. After all, a set is a set. I am from Himachal Pradesh and was raised in Chandigarh. So, I am used to small gallis and mohallas. I enjoy shooting at such places. If you just leave your phone aside and observe their daily routine, how they do their job, how they cook, etc, it is really fascinating. There’s so much to grasp. We shot in remote areas where there were a lot of people, but the shoot happened smoothly.

Have you ever shot for a film in your hometown in Himachal Pradesh?
I will be shooting the last schedule of my next film, Ginny Weds Sunny, in Manali. Once the shoot is completed, I would like to spend some time there. However, I am waiting for a film to come my way, which is completely set in Himachal, where I get to speak in the pahadi language. I have many relatives there. My nani stays in the neighbourhood, while my parents are in Chandigarh. I own a small farmhouse in Himachal, and I enjoy staying there with my family. It’s in Mandi and the house is a 100-year-old, well-maintained property. I bought it two years ago, and we have maintained the old, rooted architecture as is. In fact, it still has a chulha in the kitchen. Abhi bhi wahan gobar (cowdung) ki lipai hoti hai on some floors. Kuch rooms abhi bhi mitti ki bane hue hain. Also, there is a stream flowing next to the house. At night, we have to be careful, as leopards can come in. I love chatting with the locals there. They call me ‘Amy’ and invite me to their place and make chai for me. They give me local gossip, and there are no filmy conversations at all. Once there, I enjoy farming. We already have organic produce and I want to develop it further. We grow apples and plums. The plums from my farms are as huge as apples and they are amazingly juicy and sweet. We don’t use any chemicals or fertilisers. We also grow ginger, potatoes, cucumbers and onions. We sell the produce in the local markets. In the future, I plan to take this further, come up with homemade products and maybe develop it into a side business.

Coming back to Bala, Bhumi plays the role of a self-loving dark-skinned girl, while in real-life, you endorse a fairness product...
We (Bhumi and I) have had this conversation before. I had already shot with the brand for a couple of ads, in the capacity of a model. This is before I had joined the movies. Over the years, I have had conversations with the brand’s team that we need to evolve and move beyond what the brand was (established as) 20-30 years ago. Thankfully, today we don’t have those kind of ads being made, which were produced earlier. I feel that the whole idea of beauty should be, to each his own. Looks are completely your perspective. It’s your face, your body, whatever you feel makes you happy is good for you. Being fair, being tanned, going for tanning cream, fairness creams or no creams at all is your choice. And this is the idea that needs to be propagated. Therefore, we don’t have the old ads anymore. Not being fair cannot be a reason to be unhappy. The brand has been working on it. We now speak about ‘glow’ in our ads, in order to move away from the ‘gorapan’ conversation. I am glad that I got to be a part of a film like Bala, as it addresses many topics like age-old notions, insecurities and perceptions. The film tackles those and looks beyond them.