Yami Gautam says the film industry is a "consuming place" and can drain a person emotionally. The actor, who made her Bollywood debut in Vicky Donor (2012), says the key for her to stay sane is being able to hold her own guard.
"It can either take one film or more for someone to be up there. There is no formula for it. When you are up there, it is about how you survive, handle it and take it forward.
"At one point, I was a newcomer and there will be new people coming in. If I look left, right and centre, I would not be able to focus on my work. It is a very consuming place, it can absorb you and drain you emotionally," Yami told PTI.
The actor says being respected both by the fraternity and audience is more important to her than raking in money. "Respect is important. For me, it is more important to be respected as an actor. If you are successful, money will come. If money is the basis to do films, it won't work.
"I have come here so far in a very hard way, I have come step-by-step but I never had money as a driving force or priority," she said.
Hailing from a middle-class family, Yami says it is not easy to survive in the showbiz. "There is a certain vanity and entourage that comes along, they are your team. It depends on what you are comfortable with. I am extremely simple when I am not working. Some things do not matter to me. I am not a high-maintenance person," she said.
When the 30-year-old actor is away from the arc lights, she says she loves spending time at her home in Chandigarh and prefers conversations over parties. "You make your own style without disrespecting anyone. I am more of an intimate person, I like personal gatherings. But I do go out in some places (events). It doesn't mean I do not have friends.
"I cannot hang out with somebody just for the sake of it. I like simplicity, I like people who are simple. I like having conversations than just partying," she said.
In her last release Batti Gul Meter Chalu, Yami was seen as a lawyer and in her upcoming film Uri: The Surgical Strike, she plays the role of an intelligence officer. She says taking up different roles is all about "breaking the mould of a Hindi film heroine."
"Today we are talking about new-age India and modern women, so why not portray it in films? I am glad that I am getting to play such roles. We should not get shackled by any mind-set. We need to be brave in our choices as artists," she added.
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