For an actor known for controlled performances, Yami Gautam Dhar’s next role starts from a simple discipline: the character must feel like a person she has not played before. At a promotional event for Nayyi Navelli, she described preparing for Mohini as building an identity outside herself.
The parallel-personality method
Gautam Dhar said every role brings its own demands, and her reference point is the first encounter with the script. The enjoyment of a part, she explained, often sits alongside a list of things to learn: skills, action, physicality, body language. “You need to create a parallel personality in front of you and then wear it as your own skin,” she said.
That idea of constructing a second self, rather than layering quirks onto a familiar screen image, is the organising principle for Mohini. It also shapes how the actor checks her own work. She described herself as a student who worries the preparation may be incomplete.
The script as a live document
Gautam Dhar also spoke about repetition. The script is not something to master in one sitting; it is something to return to. “It’s very important to understand the pulse of the movie,” she said. Each reading, she argued, can reveal something new that belongs to the role or the larger story.
For readers who follow craft closely, the takeaway is concrete:
- Start with the first impression: let an early response to the part define what must be learned.
- Re-read as a practice: treat new passes as a chance to find fresh details, not to confirm old ones.
- Differentiate through small behaviour: a laugh, a gesture or a walk can mark the character as distinct.
Where the detail meets the release
The clearest example Gautam Dhar offered was behavioural: Mohini will not laugh in the same manner as her previous characters. She said she tries to add “kuch naya” to every role, so audiences also get the pleasure of noticing something unfamiliar.
That level of differentiation matters in Hindi cinema, where a recognisable persona can leak across roles. A specific physical choice, especially in a film that mixes family drama, mystery, action and humour, helps a performance hold its shape.
Nayyi Navelli is directed by Balaji Mohan and written by Himanshu Sharma and Divy Nidhi Sharma. Produced by Aanand L Rai and Himanshu Sharma under Colour Yellow, in association with Amazon MGM Studios, the film features Addinath M Kothare, Anurag Thakur, Sunita Rajwar, Mita Vasisth, Aaditya Kulshreshth, Susmita Mukherjee and Prateek Pachori. G V Prakash Kumar has composed the music.
The film opens in cinemas on October 16, coinciding with Dussehra, which places it directly in the holiday-family window. That context should turn the stylistic choices Gautam Dhar is describing into a test audiences can judge in the theatre.
Source: bollywoodHungama.com
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