[2][3][4] A daughter of Punjabi film director Mukesh Gautam, she began her career as a model,[5][6] and starred in television soap operas such as Chand Ke Paar Chalo (2008–2009) and Yeh Pyar Na Hoga Kam (2009–2010).

[7][8] Gautam had supporting roles in the thrillers Badlapur (2015) and Kaabil (2017), and greater success came for starring in the war film Uri: The Surgical Strike and the satire Bala (both 2019).

She starred in the streaming films Bhoot Police (2021), A Thursday (2022), Dasvi (2022), and Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga (2023), and had further commercial success in the satire OMG 2 (2023) and the political thriller Article 370 (2024).

Co-starring opposite debutante Ayushmann Khurrana, Annu Kapoor, and Dolly Ahluwalia, she portrayed Ashima Roy, a Bengali woman who falls in love with the titular character, a Punjabi lad from the Arora family, and gets to know about his past after their marriage.

[52][53][54] Gautam's breakthrough role was in 2019 when she appeared in Aditya Dhar's military action thriller Uri: The Surgical Strike opposite Vicky Kaushal.

The film opened to positive reviews, with Gautam unanimously receiving acclaim for her portrayal of Pari Mishra, a ditsy influencer and a part-time model hailing from Lucknow.

[58] Both Uri: The Surgical Strike and Bala emerged as commercial successes at the box-office, with the latter earning over ₹3.42 billion (US$40 million) worldwide to rank as the third-highest grossing Hindi film of the year.

[citation needed] In 2021, Gautam starred in the unremarkable horror comedy Bhoot Police, co-starring Saif Ali Khan, Arjun Kapoor, and Jacqueline Fernandez.

[66] Gautam Dhar's second film of the year was Tushar Jalota's social comedy Dasvi, alongside Abhishek Bachchan and Nimrat Kaur.

Gautam Dhar was cast in the role of Jyoti Deswal, an IPS officer in the jail where Chief Minister Ganga Ram Chaudhary was imprisoned.

[67][68][69][70] Gautam Dhar next appeared as Vidhi Sahani, a crime-journalist in search of a missing man in Aniruddha Roy Chowdhary’s social drama Lost.

"[74] Gautam Dhar starred as a lawyer in OMG 2 (2023), a satire about sex education in India, alongside Akshay Kumar and Pankaj Tripathi.

[80] Set against the backdrop of the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, the narrative follows Gautam Dhar as an intelligence officer who attempts to abrogate the law.

[84][85][86] In her review, Monika Rawal Kukreja described Gautam Dhar as "terrific" and added that "her no-nonsense demeanour lends a gravitas to the film and she lets her action and intense dialogue delivery do most of the talking".

[89] WION's Shomini Sen felt that the role was simply a variation of those she had portrayed in Ginny Weds Sunny and Article 370, but praised her and Gandhi for elevating the script of an otherwise predictable film.

[93][94] In addition to her acting career, Gautam is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products including Glow & Lovely,[95] Cornetto, Chevrolet and Dollar Missy.