Gautami

Gautami was born into a Telugu family from Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, to T. R. Seshagiri Rao and Vasundhara Devi. Her father was a radiation oncologist, while her mother was a pathologist and diagnostician. She studied at Bishop Cotton Girls' School in Bengaluru. During her childhood, she also lived in Visakhapatnam and Kerala. Gautami married Sandeep Bhatia, a businessman, in 1998, and the couple have a daughter, Subbulakshmi born in 1999. They got divorced in 1999. Gautami was in a relationship with actor Kamal Haasan from 2005 till 2016. In 2016, Gautami announced on her blog that she had ended her relationship with him. Gautami wrote on her blog: "It is heartbreaking for me to have to say today that I and Mr. Haasan are no longer together. After almost 13 years together, it has been one of the most devastating decisions that I have ever had to make in my life". She was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 35, and recovered later. == Film career ==

Gautami attended GITAM University in Visakhapatnam to pursue engineering. She made her film debut with the Telugu film Dayamayudu (1987), which was produced by her cousin. She later appeared in films such as Gandhinagar Rendava Veedhi and Srinivasa Kalyanam (both 1987). She was then introduced to Tamil cinema with Guru Shishyan (1988), starring Rajinikanth and Prabhu. She played the lead in the Tamil serial Indira. She had hosted a talk show in Sun TV titled Anbudan. She made a comeback to the film industry in the late 2000s as a costume designer for films starring her partner Kamal Haasan. She went on to style several of her 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 partner Kamal Haasan, remake of the original Malayalam film, Drishyam. She made a comeback to Malayalam cinema after 14 years in the horror thriller E (2017), playing the lead role. == Political career ==

BJP (1997–2023) Gautami was a member of the BJP from 1997 to 2023. She was BJYM vice president. She joined the party in 1997 under the leadership of LK Advani. She extensively campaigned for Atal Bihari Vajpayee during that period in Andhra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. She took a break from politics after her daughter was born. She is back into BJP in 2017. In 2021, she was appointed as in-charge of the Rajapalayam Assembly constituency. On 23 October 2023, she quit BJP, claiming that the party's senior members have been helping a person who has swindled her off her properties. AIADMK (2024–present) On 14 February 2024, She joined the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the presence of its general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami. On 21 October 2024, She was appointed as the Deputy Propaganda Secretary of the AIADMK. == Charity work ==

Gautami founded Life Again Foundation (LAF) to help cancer patients. Life Again Foundation has conducted more than 360 motivational camps for cancer patients, cancer awareness campaigns, and food drives. It also conducts Yoga and Alternative Therapy programs. It also periodically conducts health camps to conduct tests that screen for cancer and overall health. LAF also runs 2 Mobile hospitals. It also sponsors under-privileged students for higher education. It runs Supplementary Education Centres and Vocational Training Centres. ==Awards and honours==