Gayatri was born in the Marathi-speaking Joshi family on March 20, 1977 In Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. She studied in Mount Carmel High School in Nagpur, and when the family re-located to Bombay, and she was enrolled in the J.B. Vachha High School in Dadar. After completing her schooling she went on to study in Sydenham College. While still enrolled there, she modeled for brands such as Godrej, LG, Ponds, Bombay Dyeing, Sunsilk, Philips, as well as with Shahrukh Khan in the Hyundai ad.. She then went on to obtain a degree in Commerce from the same college. She was chosen as one of the five finalists of the 1999 Femina Miss India Contest, and represented India at the Miss International beauty pageant in Japan during the same year. After this success she returned to modeling and appeared in Seasons Catalogue and Calendar during the year 2001. She also appeared in two music videos: Hansraj Hans' 'Jhanjaria', and Jagjit Singh's 'Sagar Ki Kashti'. She made her debut on the silver screen opposite Shahrukh Khan in the 2004 movie 'Swades'. On June 23, 2005, she was officially engaged to Vikas Oberoi, the Managing Director of Oberoi Constructions in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.. The couple were married at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on August 27, 2005. Twinkle Khanna, Isha Koppikar, Abbas-Mastan, Rakesh Roshan, Bhushan Kumar, Inder Kumar were amongst the guests at this wedding. She gave birth to a baby boy on September 1, 2006.