Gautami is an Indian actress and politician. She was born on 2 July 1969 in Nidadavole, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Gautami made her debut in Telugu with the film Dayamayudu (1987). that was produced by her cousin.
She then appeared in films like Srinivasa Kalyanam with Venkatesh and Bhanupriya. She has acted also in Kannada films Elu Suttina Kote (1987), Chikkejamanru (1992), Cheluva (1997), and in the Hindi movies, Pyar Hua Chori Chori (1991), Aadmi (1993), Janta Ki Adalat (1994), Trimurti (1995), Dhaal (1997) and Haiwan (1998).
Her notable Tamil movies like Apoorva Sagodharargal (1989), Raja Chinna Roja (1989), Panakkaran (1990), Ooru Vittu Ooru Vanthu (1990), Namma Ooru Poovatha (1990), Dharma Durai (1991), Nee Pathi Naan Pathi (1991), Rickshaw Mama (1992), Thevar Magan (1992), Honest Raj (1994), Nammavar (1994), Kuruthipunal (1995) as well as Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar (1997).
Her other films include Elu Suttina Kote (1987), Chikkejamanru (1992), Cheluva (1997), Pyar Hua Chori Chori (1991), Aadmi (1993), Janta Ki Adalat (1994), Trimurti (1995), Dhaal (1997) and Haiwan (1998).
A few of her most notable Tamil films include Apoorva Sagodharargal (1989), Raja Chinna Roja (1989), Panakkaran (1990), Ooru Vittu Ooru Vanthu (1990), Namma Ooru Poovatha (1990), Dharma Durai (1991), Nee Pathi Naan Pathi (1991), Rickshaw Mama (1992), Thevar Magan (1992), Honest Raj (1994), Nammavar (1994), Kuruthipunal (1996), and others have been praised.
She played the lead in the Tamil serial Indira. She had hosted a talk show on Sun TV titled Anbudan. She acted in the serial Abirami which was telecast on Kalaignar TV. She made a comeback to the film industry in the late 2000s as a costume designer for films starring her partner Kamal Haasan.
She won the Vijay Award for Best Costume Designer for Dasavathaaram (2008). She would go on to style several of his other films, including Vishwaroopam (2013) and Uttama Villain (2015).
After sixteen years, she returned to acting, by starring in the Tamil film Papanasam (2015), in which she was paired with her real-life domestic partner, Kamal Haasan- a remake of director Jeethu Joseph’s original Malayalam picture, Drishyam.
In 2016, her Telugu film (after almost 20 years of absence in Telugu cinema): Manamantha (2016) with Mohanlal Viswanathan Nair and other two junior artists garnered positive reviews alike from the audience.
She made comeback to the Mollywood industry after a 14-year sabbatical from acting in the horror-thriller titled E (2017) by playing the lead role. She would be seen currently in Thupparivaalan 2 directed and starring Vishal, where she’d be playing a pivotal character.
Gautami’s father Seshagiri Rao was a pioneering radiation oncologist and her mother Vasundhara Devi was a pathologist and diagnostician. Gautami married Sandeep Bhatia, a businessman, in 1998, and the couple has a daughter, Subbulakshmi born in 1999. They later got divorced in 1999.