Yami Gautam Dhar says she was ‘disheartened’ when OMG 2 was given ‘A’ certificate by the CBFC: ‘Will never hurt anyone…’

Yami calls it a tough journey. She shares, “It is important for me to do roles that have some substance. I always wanted to do substantial roles. Even in my debut film (Vicky Donor) it was a substantial role, there was a concept, a story, that’s something I always wanted to do. But somehow, for whatever reason, I am saying it with a smile, I don’t have any regrets, but it took me time to reinstate that, to come to a stage where I have choices of good films versus just films.”

Yami further shares that she’s worked on herself and has been patient with the films she attaches herself to because she doesn’t want to be repetitive. She says, “This is the only way you can hone your skills, you can work on yourself, that’s how you create your own audience that has an expectation from you. Since you are attached to a project, they expect that there will be something that’s worth (their time) even if they are times find the film ‘thik thaak‘ (okay), they appreciate the effort. The aim is that the audience likes the film as well (but that’s subjective). I spend time in not just signing anything but putting my time in doing different things and taking my time to make sure that I am not repeating myself. It is easy to be (typecast) in the industry, if a thriller like A Thursday has worked then you are only offered thrillers, you play a cop then you keep getting cop roles, if you play a journalist then you keep getting that.”

The actor accepts that has happened with her but explains, “I can understand why that happens. If I like the story then I’ll do it, but not just because it has worked recently, so it should be repeated. I don’t believe in repeating myself, I believe in moving ahead, getting better films, performing better and that’s where OMG 2 comes in where I got to play something with substance. She’s (Kaamini — Yami’s character in OMG 2) poised, she’s bold, I feel she’s a bit sassy also… It was great fun working with Pankaj Tripathi, Amit Rai and Akshay Kumar. It was a fantastic team.”

 

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Yami also said she was “disheartened” when OMG 2 was given an ‘A’ certificate by the CBFC. She says, “It was a bit disheartening. You can tell when a film is most likely to go for ‘A’ certification, and you should be okay with it because you know what you have signed up for. That’s absolutely okay because it would be then a different film for a different kind of an audience, so you are prepared for it. We didn’t see this coming, the way it happened. It is understandable that even they have a lot of responsibility and they have to balance it. But having said that, the film is now just about to be released. The age group of 12 years to 17 years… even in the Middle East they have 12+ certification, which I feel is very appropriate. We have heard that here also some kind of changes (in CBFC certification) and there will be more categories of certifications rather than just what it is right now to make it easier for everyone.”

“It was never their intention to hurt people’s sentiments,” the actor says. “Hopefully this film will be the starting point. This film will start a conversation, and once it gains strength from a positive word-of-mouth, people would know that there’s nothing in the film that’s (objectionable) and kids can watch it with their parents. I hope people understand the essence of this film, it is an entertaining film. We took it as our responsibility to serve something new to our audience. The world is shrinking and it’s turned into a global village where people are watching so much from so many different parts of the world. Looking at the story I can say it is gripping and engaging, it is a relevant film. We are happy at least it has a theatrical release.”

When asked if the audience, and people on social media have become more sensitive when it comes to films that cater to topics of religion and spirituality, Yami says, “It’s a global change”.

She says, “I think we are seeing the changing times globally. It is not just here, it is happening globally and that’s all thanks to the internet and social media. There are so many opinions… But it is a certain section of opinion, it is not the wholesome opinion. People think what is happening on social media is the ultimate but it is not, there is a huge world outside, which is the reality actually. Our intent, through our work, will never be to hurt anyone. We’d never intentionally do anything to make it sensational.”