Feeling cornered in the film industry, especially when you are someone with no connections, is a reality for many. After actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas shared her experience in the industry, it led to other actors talking about the same.

Yami Gautam Dhar’s journey too hasn’t been a rosy one and it has taken years to get her due. “Being in films is not like two plus two. It is not definite. The decision to cast you is literally in someone else’s hands. However, even when you feel you are talented, there will always be a reason why it’s not working out. Sometimes, you hear ‘you are still not big enough’,” feels the Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga actor.

But she doesn’t harbour bad feelings for those who made her feel unwelcome initially in her career. “I am reserved by nature,” says Dhar, who feels she has “a good working equation with everyone”. “I never considered myself smart enough to strike up a conversation. I don’t think I was ever great with words. I have been through situations where with just that one look, you can feel that person perceiving ‘you are not there yet, you are not welcome, you have just not made it yet’,” shares the 34-year-old.

But rather than settling for mediocre roles, she was ready to give it all up. “I decided, main mann maar ke kaam nahin karungi. The film industry can consume you. Before Bala and Uri: The Surgical Strike (both 2019), I was happy to go back and pursue farming.”

All this is not verbalized in so many words, she feels, “They (people) are not saying anything, but you can feel you’re being told ‘you are not cool enough’. But there have also been good people. I get calls from certain people, who say ‘Hamesha lagta tha achha kaam kiya tumne, Vicky Donor mein, phir kaam kyun nahin mila’... theek hai, aisa hota hai. Chadte huye sooraj ko sab salaam karte hain.”