Ram Gopal Varma wrote a heartfelt letter to Yami Gautam (Image source IMDb and archive)
Yami Gautam’s win for Best Actress for ‘Article 370’ at the 72nd National Film Awards received praise from across the industry, but it was director Ram Gopal Varma’s message that stood out with its personal touch. In a note shared on X (formerly Twitter), Varma looked beyond the trophy itself to celebrate the years of struggle and conviction that he believes shaped Yami’s performance and, ultimately, her win.
Ram Gopal Varma writes a heartfelt letter to Yami Gautam
Sharing his thoughts on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Varma opened by noting that while he’s never put much stock in the idea of awards, he believes in the value of recognition when it’s built on a real, long-term commitment to his craft. He went on to describe Yami’s win as especially meaningful because Article 370 was not just another mission for her, but a story she believed in deeply and fought to bring to the screen.
Varma then turned to what he called the real accomplishment behind the award: the years of struggle, persistence and faith that shaped Yami’s career long before that recognition arrived. He wrote that he was personally moved more by everything that had happened up to the point, the setbacks, the risks taken, and the refusal to quit than by the award itself, describing her career as something that had been built “brick by brick”, with more milestones still to come.
“Article 370” wins seventy-second place National Film Awards
‘Article 370’ emerged as one of the standout winners at this year’s National Film Awards, taking home three awards in all – Best Actress for Yami Gautam, Best Feature Film and Best Music. The 72nd National Film Awards were decided by an 11-member central jury headed by veteran Malayalam director Jayaraj, who led the panel through its review of entries submitted from across the country.Directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhal, ‘Article 370’ is an exciting political thriller. Yami Gautam delivers a powerful performance as Zooni Haksar, a fierce intelligence officer who navigates deep-rooted domestic insurgency, cross-border terrorism and complex legal loopholes alongside a cohesive government task force. The film features an ensemble star cast including Priyamani, Skand Thakur, Ashwini Kaul, Vaibhav Tatwawade, Kiran Karmarkar and Arun Govil. Co-written it
Aditya Dhar
and Monal Thakkar and Arjun Dhawan, the narrative tightly interweaves the intense bureaucratic, political, and ground-level intelligence operations that culminated in the historic 2019 abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under the Indian Constitution.