Bollywood actress Yami Gautam surprised fans when she posted on social media in early June that she had gotten married to director Aditya Dhar. There was no prior announcement about her nuptials nor any news that she had been in a relationship with Dhar.
“With the blessings of our family, we have tied the knot in an intimate wedding ceremony today. Being very private people, we celebrated this joyous occasion with our immediate family,” Gautam and Dhar’s social media posts read at the time.
In an interview with Bombay Times, the ‘Uri’ actress explained why she went for a low-key celebration in Himachal Pradesh on June 4.
“The more I attended big weddings, I knew I didn’t want that,” Gautam said in the interview. “I am fortunate that both Aditya and I shared this thought. We both are averse to the wastage that happens in weddings — food, flower decorations and so many other things. Also, it’s so difficult to make everyone happy, so why not get married among those who actually care about you.”
Bollywood weddings are usually massive, multi-day and multi-event celebrations. However, Gautam skipped all that and had a few select people as guests while also adhering to COVID-19 norms.
“Yes, we missed a lot of friends and relatives who couldn’t be there, but they all understood the importance of adhering to COVID restrictions. Only 20 people were allowed and this included the pandit who performed the wedding. We didn’t want to flout a single rule,” she said.
Opening up about her relationship with Dhar, Gautam said their romance bloomed after working on the movie ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’ together.
“We got talking and developed a friendship during the promotion of the film. That’s when the relationship started. Even before we started seeing each other, I had a lot of respect for Aditya as a person and as a professional. He values people, no matter what,” the actress said. “There’s a lot of mutual respect between us. Love has a different meaning for different people. For me, it’s about having a nice heart. Above all, you need to be a good person and he’s just like that.”
