The film industry has seen several directors and actresses fall in love while working together on a movie. But Aditya Dhar and Yami Gautam’s story stands apart. It was not a film set which initiated their bond, but a blockbuster’s promotional campaign. The film Dhurandhar keeps its dream run, and the focus comes back to its director Aditya Dhar—his love story, struggles, and path of exceptional filmmaking.
Love That Grew Beyond the Camera
Yami Gautam was cast in the film Uri: The Surgical Strike directed by the then novice director Aditya Dhar. Although Aditya was considered shy during the filming, it was only at the marketing stage of the movie that he and Yami began to be spotted together frequently, albeit gradually. They had the same kind of values and ideas, thus their friendship soon became romance. After getting their families’ blessings, they got married in a modest ceremony in 2021. Yami has often asserted that their affection was secretive; there were no grand proposals and no dramatic announcements. The couple has been blessed with a son and they are very happy parents now.
Battling Dyslexia and Early Setbacks
Aditya Dhar’s triumph, however, was anything but simple. As a child, he had to deal with dyslexia which was a huge setback in his education and thus made life difficult for him at school. Still, he persisted and graduated, later on, attending storytelling classes at the Music Theatre, Delhi. His passion for cinema eventually brought him to Mumbai, where he began his career as a lyricist and screenwriter with Kabul Express in 2006.
His early plans to debut as a director did not materialise as expected. The timeline of the projects got expanded, the chances went away, and in fact, he claimed that some of his adroitly turned down stories saw the light of the day in show business by others. Aditya, during these unworthy moments, took support from his mother’s advice: “God might stretch our patience but will always give us a victory that history will never forget.”
From ‘Uri’ to ‘Dhurandhar’
Aditya Dhar’s first film as a director was Uri: The Surgical Strike, which was based on the reality of events and India’s counter-terrorism measures. Though the film had a budget of about ₹44 crores, it earned more than ₹342 crores worldwide and received four National Awards, including the one for Best Director.
The director was not in a hurry to make his next project, Aditya devoted several years to studying the subject before picking up Dhurandhar, which is about the IC-814 hijacking plus the 2001 Parliament attack. The end product was, indeed, worth the wait. Dhurandhar was released on December 5, 2025, and has already garnered over ₹1,300 crores at the global box office, thus being one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of all time. A sequel has also been scheduled for March 19 release.
Yami Gautam’s Steady Rise
Yami Gautam is a very popular figure in the Telugu film industry. She caught the attention of India through a famous fairness cream advertisement and then started to act in Nuvvila, Gauravam, Yuddham, and Courier Boy Kalyan-like movies. Commercial success was not her lot in the South but she was able to create a powerful niche for herself in Bollywood by picking up roles which were performance oriented.
Recently, Yami brought to the audience through her films like Lost and Article 370 which are more script-oriented than star-appeal, her choice of strong stories over glamour has been re-confirmed.
Aditya Dhar and Yami Gautam together, personify a combination of soft love, perseverance and even more so, the desire to create films that are on par with the great standards of their art. This aspect made their journey as fascinating as the tales they narrate through cinema.
