Wamiqa Gabbi

"Vamiqa" redirects here. For the fictional female character Vamiq, see Metiochus and Parthenope.

Wamiqa Gabbi
Gabbi in 2024
Born	(1993-09-29) 29 September 1993 Chandigarh, India
Education	DAV College, Chandigarh
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2007–present

Wamiqa Gabbi (born 29 September 1993) is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Punjabi and Hindi films and series. She made her screen debut as a child with a brief role in the Hindi film Jab We Met (2007). She later established herself as a leading lady in Punjabi cinema with roles in the commercially successful comedy films Tu Mera 22 Main Tera 22 (2013), Nikka Zaildar 2 (2017) and its sequel Nikka Zaildar 3 (2019), as well as the crime drama Kali Jotta (2023).

Gabbi expanded into other languages with the Tamil romance Maalai Naerathu Mayakkam (2016) and the Malayalam sports drama Godha (2017). She went on to gain recognition in Hindi streaming series Grahan (2021), Mai: A Mother's Rage (2022), and Modern Love Mumbai (2022), the latter two directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. A major breakthrough came in 2023 with her acclaimed performance of an aspiring actress in the period drama Jubilee, followed by her role as a spy's wife in Bhardwaj's thriller Khufiya, which earned her a Filmfare OTT Award. She has since achieved commercial success with the fantasy film Bhool Chuk Maaf (2025).

Early life

Gabbi was born in a Punjabi family in Chandigarh on 29 September 1993. Her father Govardhan Gabbi is an author and writes in Hindi and Punjabi languages. She did her schooling at St. Xavier's School, Chandigarh, and completed her degree in Arts from DAV College, Chandigarh.

Career

Early work and expansion (2007–2019)

Gabbi made her film debut at the age of thirteen with a brief role in Imtiaz Ali's Hindi romantic comedy Jab We Met (2007), playing the cousin of Kareena Kapoor's character. She admitted to feeling uncertain about her future in the film industry while working on the picture, as she did not come from an acting family like Kapoor. After minor roles in Love Aaj Kal (2009), Mausam (2011), and Bittoo Boss (2012), Gabbi had her first lead role in the coming-of-age drama Sixteen (2013), portraying a teenager who enters a relationship with a significantly older man. In a review for Mumbai Mirror, Karan Anshuman commended Gabbi as "the standout" in a mediocre film. It emerged as a commercial failure, after which she admitted to almost giving up acting due to consistent rejections.

Gabbi in 2019

Later that year, Gabbi made her debut into Punjabi cinema alongside Amrinder Gill and Yo Yo Honey Singh in the comedy film Tu Mera 22 Main Tera 22. It was a box-office success. Her subsequent roles in the Punjabi romances Ishq Brandy (2014) and Ishq Haazir Hai (2015) generally went unnoticed. In Bhale Manchi Roju, Gabbi expanded to Telugu cinema opposite Sudheer Babu as a woman abducted on her wedding day. Made on a shoestring budget, the film was a box-office success. She next made her debut into Tamil cinema in 2016 with the romantic drama Maalai Naerathu Mayakkam, opposite Balakrishna Kola. She was drawn to the character as it was a departure from the "chirpy" roles she had portrayed previously in her Punjabi films. Despite criticising the film's regressive themes, a critic for The New Indian Express labelled Gabbi "a talent to watch out for".

In 2017, she debuted into Malayalam cinema with the sports comedy Godha opposite Tovino Thomas. To prepare for her role as a Punjabi wrestler, she trained for the sport in Amritsar and lived with her coach for a month. In the film's climactic combat scene, Gabbi sustained physical injuries throughout her entire body. Her performance was positively received by critics including Firstpost's Anna MM Vetticad who described her as "luminous" and appreciated her accurate emulation of a professional wrestler's mannerisms. Godha emerged as a sleeper hit at the box-office. Gabbi ended the year with the commercially successful Punjabi spiritual sequel Nikka Zaildar 2, for which she earned her first nomination for Best Actress (Critics) at the Punjabi Filmfare Awards. Parahuna was Gabbi's sole 2018 release.

In 2019, Gabbi had five releases—four of which were Punjabi. She began the year as part of an ensemble that included Prithviraj Sukumaran and Mamta Mohandas in the Malayalam science fiction film 9. In a mixed review for Film Companion, Neelima Menon wrote that Gabbi was "scintillating as the mysterious stranger". She followed this with the unremarkable Punjabi features Nadhoo Khan and Dil Diyan Gallan. Gabbi returned to the Nikka Zaildar franchise for its third instalment, as a struggling poetess caught in a love triangle with Ammy Virk and Sonia Kaur's characters. Gurnaaz Kaur of The Tribune was appreciative of her addition to the film. It emerged as a commercial success. Doorbeen—a drama centred on the illegal drug trade in Punjab—cast Gabbi as the love interest of Ninja's character.

Rise to prominence with streaming projects (2020–present)

In Galwakdi (2020), Gabbi played a free-spirited woman who falls in love with a librarian (played by Tarsem Jassar) that struggles with obsessive–compulsive disorder. In 2021, she returned to Hindi cinema after eight years with Kabir Khan's sports drama 83, starring Ranveer Singh. She had a supporting role as cricket player Madan Lal's wife; Gabbi acknowledged that her role was brief but chose to sign the film regardless out of admiration for Khan. She next made her foray into streaming with the crime drama series Grahan, in which she played Manu, a Sikh girl who becomes romantically involved with a Hindu boy (played by Anshuman Pushkar) during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Shweta Keshri of India Today wrote that Gabbi and Pushkar "do proper justice while bringing alive the 80s romance to screen", but The Quint's Shefali Deshpande bemoaned that Gabbi's "fake freckles and Instagram filter like make up" detracted from the character's authenticity and also criticised the pair's poorly written roles.

Gabbi with co-star Sidhant Gupta promoting Jubilee in 2023

In 2022, Gabbi featured in two series—Mai: A Mother's Rage and Modern Love Mumbai— which were released on to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, respectively. In the former, she played a mute girl whose mother (played by Sakshi Tanwar) investigates the circumstances surrounding her death. Gabbi admitted that the intense role took a significant emotional toll on her, and she often broke down crying after filming several scenes; however, she deemed it essential for the audience to experience such scenes that reflect reality. The Indian Express's Shubhra Gupta took note of her "eloquent use of sign language". In Vishal Bhardwaj's segment of the latter anthology series, she essayed a young Gujarati woman navigating her relationship with an Indo-Chinese man (played by Meiyang Chang). She said she was drawn to exploring a different culture through the character as most of her previous characters did not offer this opportunity. Reception to the series was generally favourable; Anuj Kumar of The Hindu wrote that, "Wamiqa and Chang fit effortlessly into their parts".

The year 2023 proved to be a breakthrough for Gabbi, during which she appeared in six projects. She started the year in Bhardwaj's Fursat, a short film about a scientist (played by Ishaan Khatter) who discovers an artefact that transports him to the future. Filming for Fursat took place on the iPhone 14 Pro in collaboration with Apple Inc. Bhardwaj was initially sceptical of Gabbi's dancing abilities and considered simplifying the choreography for her but was impressed by her skills during the first rehearsal. In preparation, she learnt contemporary dance steps for her role in only nine days due to commitments to other projects. India Today's Roktim Rajpal took note of Gabbi's ability to "convey a lot through silence and expressions" and appreciated her chemistry with Khattar given the duration of the film. However, reviewers of the film generally felt that the film prioritised showcasing the capabilities of the iPhone at the expense of the script's quality. Gabbi's next release, the Punjabi crime drama Kali Jotta, premiered within a week of Fursat. She played a lawyer who investigates the disappearance of her former school teacher (played by Neeru Bajwa). The film was met with critical acclaim upon release; Sukhpreet Kahlon of The Indian Express wrote that Gabbi brought "a carefree exuberance to her performance". Kali Jotta emerged as a major commercial success, ranking as the third highest-grossing Punjabi film of the year.

A turning point in Gabbi's career came in Vikramaditya Motwane's period series Jubilee, in which she appeared among an ensemble cast. Set against the emergence of the Hindi film industry in post-Partition India, she portrayed Niloufer, a headstrong courtesan with aspirations of becoming an actress. Motwane cast Gabbi in the role for her understanding of the nuance and emotion required by directors, along with her "gorgeous screen presence". To prepare for the song "Babuji Bhole Bhale", she drew inspiration from actresses Rekha, Priyanka Chopra and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Upon release on to Amazon Prime Video, Jubilee received critical acclaim as did Gabbi's performance. Shilajit Mitra of The Hindu wrote that "Gabbi cements her reputation as one of the most promising, and frankly stunning actresses of our time", and Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV was particularly impressed with the emotional depth she brought to the character. Critic Udita Jhunjhunwala observed that while her performances in Grahan, Mai: A Mother's Rage, and Modern Love Mumbai demonstrated her versatility to a certain extent, it was Jubilee that truly showcased her capabilities as an actor. She earned a nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series at the Filmfare OTT Awards.

In May, Gabbi featured once again in the Modern Love franchise for its Tamil iteration, Modern Love Chennai; she cited her aspiration to collaborate with director Thiagarajan Kumararaja as the primary reason for accepting the project. She portrayed a woman tasked with helping her ex-boyfriend (played by PB) recover his memory following a car accident, the segment that Firstpost's Bhuvanesh Chandar considered the series' highlight.

Gabbi in 2024

The following month, Gabbi reunited with Bhardwaj for their third collaboration in Charlie Chopra & the Mystery of Solang Valley, a thriller series adapted from Agatha Christie's The Sittaford Mystery. Based on the character of Trefusis, Gabbi played a detective who attempts to prove the innocence of her fiancé (played by Vivaan Shah) in the murder of his uncle, a role she described as "my most ambitious yet" and spent two months preparing for. The series also required her to break the fourth wall, a technique which she modelled after Phoebe Waller-Bridge's character in Fleabag. Citing the series as one of Bhardwaj's weaker projects, Mashable India's Sanyukta Thakare thought that the weak writing had constrained Gabbi's performance, but still felt that she "showed great promise in deep emotional moments".

She gained further attention for her role in Bhardwaj's spy thriller Khufiya co-starring Tabu and Ali Fazal. When casting Gabbi for the film, Bhardwaj recalled her audition for his shelved adaptation of Midnight's Children. In a mixed review of the film, WION's Shomini Sen praised Gabbi for holding her own in the presence of Tabu and Fazal, despite being a relatively new actor. She earned her first award for Best Supporting Actress in a Web Original Film at the Filmfare OTT Awards and earned an additional nomination for Best Actress at the ceremony. Describing her frequent collaborations with Bhardwaj, she called it a "privilege" to work with him and revealed that he instilled confidence in her as an actor at a time when she considered quitting.

Gabbi next featured in the Hindi action film Baby John (2024) starring Varun Dhawan in the title role. She was initially hesitant in accepting the role as it was her first time doing action sequences. Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com bemoaned that "the charismatic Wamiqa Gabbi is wasted" in a poorly written role. It failed to recoup its estimated ₹1.8 billion (US$25 million) investment. The following year, Gabbi starred opposite Rajkummar Rao in the fantasy film Bhool Chuk Maaf, about a man who is stuck in a time loop on his wedding day. The film faced several delays in its release due to the 2025 India–Pakistan conflict and issues between distributers. In a scathing review of the film for Scroll.in, Nandini Ramnath wrote that Gabbi was "a misfire as the sometimes coquettish, sometimes feisty, and all-times grating Titli". Against expectations, Bhool Chuk Maaf emerged as a successful financial venture.

Upcoming projects

Gabbi has several upcoming projects across multiple languages. In Tamil cinema, she will star in the fantasy film Genie alongside Jayam Ravi and the romance Iravaakaalam opposite S.J. Suryah, which has been completed since 2018 but is yet to be picked up for distribution. In Punjabi, she will appear in the romantic drama Kikli with Mandy Takhar and Jobanpreet Singh. In Malayalam, she will appear in the action film Tiki Taka alongside Asif Ali. In Telugu, she will feature in the spy thriller G2 with Adivi Sesh and Emraan Hashmi. She also has multiple Hindi projects in Vikas Bahl's comedy Dil Ka Darwaaza Khol Na Darling with Jaya Bachchan and Siddhant Chaturvedi, the horror-comedy Bhooth Bangla alongside Akshay Kumar and Tabu and the romantic comedy Pati Patni Aur Woh Do starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Sara Ali Khan. Additionally, she will feature in Raj & DK's Netflix fantasy miniseries Rakt Brahmand: The Bloody Kingdom alongside Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Aditya Roy Kapur, and Ali Fazal. She is currently shooting for a film opposite actor Bhuvan Bam, titled Kuku Ki Kundali.

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Films

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes	Ref.
2007	Jab We Met	Geet's and Roop's cousin	Hindi
2009	Love Aaj Kal
2011	Mausam	Lala Durgadas's daughter
2012	Bittoo Boss	Mrinalini's sister
2013	Sixteen	Tanisha
	Tu Mera 22 Main Tera 22	Nikky	Punjabi
2014	Ishq Brandy	Kimmi
2015	Ishq Haazir Hai	Simar
	Bhale Manchi Roju	Sitha	Telugu	credited as Wamiqa
2016	Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam	Manoja	Tamil
2017	Godha	Adithi Singh	Malayalam
	Nikka Zaildar 2	Saawan Kaur	Punjabi
2018	Parahuna	Maano
2019	Nine	Eva	Malayalam
	Nadhoo Khan		Punjabi
	Dil Diyan Gallan	Natasha
	Nikka Zaildar 3	Palpreet
	Doorbeen
2020	Galwakdi	Amberdeep Kaur
2021	83	Annu Lal	Hindi
2023	Fursat	Diya Srivastav		Short film
	Kali Jotta	Anant	Punjabi
	Khufiya	Charu Ravi Mohan	Hindi
2024	Tabaah	Raavi	Punjabi
	Baby John	Tara / Adhira Verman	Hindi
2025	Bhool Chuk Maaf	Titli Mishra
2026	Bhooth Bangla	Template:TableTBA		Completed
	Pati Patni Aur Woh Do	Template:TableTBA		Filming
	G2	Mahalakshmi Naagin	Telugu	Filming
	DC	Chandra	Tamil
	Tiki Taka	Template:TableTBA	Malayalam	Completed
	Kikli	Template:TableTBA	Punjabi
	Iravaakaalam	Template:TableTBA	Tamil
	Genie			Filming
	Dil Ka Darwaaza Khol Na Darling		Hindi
	Kuku Ki Kundli

Television

Year	Title	Role	Language	Ref.
2021	Grahan	Manjeet Kaur Chhabra / Manu	Hindi
2022	Mai: A Mother's Rage	Supriya Chaudhary
	Modern Love Mumbai	Megha
2023	Jubilee	Nilofer Qureshi
	Modern Love Chennai	Sam	Tamil
	Charlie Chopra & the Mystery of Solang Valley	Charlie Chopra	Hindi
TBA	Template:Pending series	Template:TableTBA

Music video appearances

Year	Song	Language(s)	Singer	Ref.
2017	"Manak Di Kali"	Punjabi	Ranjit Bawa
	"Angreji Wali Madam"		Kulwinder Billa, Shipra Goyal
2018	"Teri Khaamiyan"		Akhil
	"100 Percent"		Garry Sandhu
2020	"Kajla"		Tarsem Jassar
2021	"Kade Kade"		Ammy Virk
	"Tere Laare"		Afsana Khan, Amrit Maan
2024	"Ittefaq"	Hindi	Siddhant Chaturvedi, OAFF, Savera

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2018	Filmfare Awards Punjabi	Best Actress (Critics)	Nikka Zaildar 2	Nominated
2023	Filmfare OTT Awards	Best Actress in a Drama Series	Jubilee	Nominated
2024		Best Actress in a Web Original Film	Khufiya	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress in a Web Original Film		Won

External links

• Wamiqa Gabbi on IMDb
• Wamiqa Gabbi at Bollywood Hungama
• Wamiqa Gabbi on Facebook