Wamiqa Gabbiਵਾਮਿਕਾ ਗੱਬੀ

Early life

Wamiqa Gabbi was born on 29 September 1993 in Chandigarh into a Punjabi family; her father Govardhan Gabbi is an author who writes in Hindi and Punjabi, and her mother Raj Kumari is a teacher. She studied at St. Xavier's School, Chandigarh, and took a BA from DAV College, Chandigarh, training in Kathak dance along the way. As a child she appeared in the Punjabi TV serial Saude Dillan De, and a dance competition judged by Aamir Khan led to a small role in his film — her screen debut as a child artist in Jab We Met (2007).

Chandigarh gave Wamiqa Gabbi an educated, cultured upbringing — a writer father, a teacher mother, St. Xavier's School and DAV College. Kathak training gave her grace, and the childhood serial Saude Dillan De gave her an early taste of cameras. The Aamir Khan-judged dance competition that led to Jab We Met was serendipity, but what followed was a decade of deliberate career-building across five film industries.

Career

Gabbi established herself in Punjabi cinema with Tu Mera 22 Main Tera 22 (2013) opposite Yo Yo Honey Singh and Amrinder Gill, followed by Ishq Brandy (2014), Nikka Zaildar 2 (2017) and Nikka Zaildar 3 (2019), and the crime drama Kali Jotta (2023), one of her most acclaimed performances. She crossed languages early: the Tamil romance Maalai Naerathu Mayakkam (2016), the Malayalam sports drama Godha (2017) — for which she won the Flowers Indian Film Award for Best Debut — the Malayalam film 9 (2019) and the Telugu Bhale Manchi Roju.

Her Hindi streaming work brought her the widest acclaim: the Disney+ Hotstar series Grahan (2021), and 2023's Jubilee, where her turn as an aspiring actress in a period drama drew raves, followed by Vishal Bhardwaj's Khufiya, which earned her the Filmfare OTT Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has since moved into mainstream Hindi films with Bhool Chuk Maaf (2025).

Punjabi cinema was the foundation: Tu Mera 22 Main Tera 22 made her a known face, Ishq Brandy and the Nikka Zaildar films made her a star, and Kali Jotta (2023) — a searing crime drama — showed she could carry the heaviest material. But Gabbi never stayed in one lane: Tamil (Maalai Naerathu Mayakkam), Malayalam (Godha, which won her a debut award, and 9), Telugu (Bhale Manchi Roju) — each industry added a layer.

The streaming era made her a critical darling. Grahan showed her dramatic chops, Jubilee (2023) — as an aspiring actress in 1940s Bombay — was the performance of her career, and Khufiya earned her the Filmfare OTT Award. Bhool Chuk Maaf (2025) brought her into mainstream Hindi comedy.

Major works

Tu Mera 22 Main Tera 22, Nikka Zaildar 2, Kali Jotta, Godha, Jubilee, Khufiya, Bhool Chuk Maaf.

Tu Mera 22 Main Tera 22, Nikka Zaildar 2, Kali Jotta, Godha, Jubilee, Khufiya, Bhool Chuk Maaf.

Personal life

Gabbi is based in Mumbai and remains close to her family in Chandigarh.

Gabbi keeps her personal life private and remains close to her Chandigarh family, including her brother Haardik. She is a trained Kathak dancer.

Legacy

Few Punjabi actresses have ranged as widely: from Chandigarh to Chennai to Kochi to Mumbai, Wamiqa Gabbi has built a genuinely pan-Indian career without abandoning Punjabi cinema.

Five languages, three decades of screen life starting as a child artist, and a career that keeps ascending: Wamiqa Gabbi has built the most wide-ranging filmography of any Punjabi actress of her generation.