Yami to portray a grey character in Ronnie Screwvala's next, A Thursday

After a spate of girl-next-door roles, Yami Gautam to portray playschool teacher who takes 16 children hostage in Ronnie Screwvalas psychological thriller, A Thursday.

If Yami Gautam witnessed a turnaround in her career last year with Uri: The Surgical Strikes and Bala, the actor seems to be building the foundation for a promising 2021. After earning a place in Pavan Kripalani's horror-comedy Bhoot Police, she is now set to headline Ronnie Screwvala's next, A Thursday. The Behzad Khambata-directed film sees Gautam essay the role of playschool teacher Naina Jaiswal who, on a Thursday, takes 16 toddlers hostage.

The actor is elated that the movie ticks two items off her wish list — being part of a psychological thriller and that of carrying a film on her shoulders. "A Thursday is one of those rare scripts that you just cannot put down. Behzad has written one of the strongest characters for a female protagonist; Naina is both, fierce and endearing," says the actor, who can barely wait to breathe life into the complex character. Khambata, who has doubled up as the writer, says he had written the role with Yami Gautam in mind. "I have never seen her portray an unhinged character. I was thrilled when she agreed to do this film," he says.

One to back high-concept ideas, Screwvala believes the movie — like his earlier production A Wednesday (2008) — will bring to light the failings of our society through the story of a middle-class teacher. He says, "This is one of those thrillers that not only has you on the edge of your seat, but also makes you question many aspects of society. Seeing Yami in a grey avatar will be interesting for the audience." The film, co-produced by Premnath Rajagopalan of Blue Monkey Films, is lined up for a direct-to-web release.

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