After years of quiet perseverance, the actress finds herself at the centre of an industry-wide applause-raising questions about how B’wood chooses its stars
Bollywood can’t seem to get enough of Yami Gautam. Over the past few days, the industry has witnessed a gush-fest celebrating her power-packed performance in Haq. Alia called her the “queen of her craft,” Karan admitted he had “never been moved by a performance like this before,” Samantha Ruth Prabhu described the film as deeply human and rare, noting that such stories are “even rarer when brought alive by an actor of this calibre,” And Saba Pataudi echoed the sentiment, calling Yami a terrific performer.
“Everyone salutes the rising sun,” observes trade analyst Sumi Kadel. He adds that an industry known for its factions rarely swims against the current, especially when the spotlight is firmly on Haq and her husband Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar. Yet, the irony is hard to ignore. Yami, an outsider who carved her own path, has often spoke about feeling overlooked and struggling for acceptance despite a strong body of work.
An industry source points out that in 2025, no female actor delivered a clear box-office hit, and Yami’s performance stood out as the strongest, regardless of whether Haq qualified as a conventional blockbuster.
In an ecosystem where awards and invitations are often negotiated, this moment of recognition feels unusually organic.
Not long ago, the actor had also spoken about how access to Bollywood’s inner circles remains a privilege for a select few. In an interview with Deccan Chronicle, she said “We all know how casting works and how perceptions are formed. At the end of the day, it’s for me to know what I’m looking for and chase that.” Today, as Bollywood applauds in unison, Yami’s moment feels less like overnight success and more like delayed acknowledgment-long earned, quietly awaited.
