Actor Kirti Kulhari is choosing roles that make her push her own boundaries

The glow on her face isn’t just from diet and exercise, reveals the Four More Shots Please! actor, but an outcome of introspection and realisations over the recent few years

At least nine out of 10 women that Kirti Kulhari comes across on a daily basis, ask her about the release date of Four More Shots Please!–the popular show on Amazon Prime Video. Well, they needn’t anymore because the third season of the show–that is all about the lives of four female friends trying to navigate work, life and love in all its hues and shades–is finally dropping on October 21. Four More Shots Please! (FMSP) has not only brought a new vigour in Kulhari’s professional life but on a subconscious level, it has also given her a better understanding of herself as a person, making her more comfortable in her own skin. In recent years, Kulhari has cemented her position in Bollywood as a solid and dependable actor with movies such as Pink, Indu Sarkar, Blackmail, Uri: The Surgical Strike and Mission Mangal; and OTT shows such as Criminal Justice, Human and of course, FMSP. In a conversation with The Established, Kulhari opened up about her growth as an artiste, her love for complex characters and her debut as a producer.

You seem to have evolved with the show–as an actor and as a person. How much do you credit FMSP for your evolution?

Well, I credit the show for a lot of things that have happened to me, both professionally and personally. By the time I agreed to do the show, I had done Uri and Mission Mangal. OTT was just about beginning to boom and we were pretty much one of the first ones to have a show. I was at the point where I could have got lost. With all that I know and all that I can do as an actor, if you don’t have the opportunities that put you out there, you can get lost, and there are many who have. So I think FMSP really put me back on the map in a very strong way.

The work we do is not just work for us. There are things being spoken about through the story and through your character. There are conflicts, issues and resolutions. The reason why the show worked so well is because it’s relatable. The problems these girls face can be very trivial and silly but they matter in a person’s life. We are all made of what happens to us on a daily basis, the situations and experiences we go through, the people we meet and the choices we make. You’re seeing these girls at their worst and at their best–it’s so reflective of life. As an actor, stepping into my character Anjana’s shoes has also had an effect on how I change my perspective towards life. It’s having an effect on me as Kirti Kulhari and what Kirti Kulhari is going through is also having an impact on what I bring to my acting. It’s a give-and-take process and that’s where one’s growth lies. That’s the beauty of what we do. If you’re open and aware, you have so much potential to really grow and understand yourself.

There is a very evident change in the way you look and present yourself now. A sexier, more confident Kirti…

I have never had a very glamorous image. As an actor, I was always okay with doing whatever I needed to do in order to portray the character in all its authenticity. In this show, there were bold scenes and the maximum number of sex scenes were in the first season. We got a lot of flak for it as well but as an actor, I was ready to step into it and that itself takes a lot out of you. It’s not about the sex in the show but it’s about becoming comfortable with your own sexuality and your own body. It is a show which is so much about how you look. It is vanity-heavy, which is a plus and a minus as well. People are judging you on how pretty and sexy you’re looking, the clothes you’re wearing and how your hair and make-up is. People can look at the sex scenes as being in bad taste, and there’s an idea of sluttiness attached to it but they don’t realise how much it takes for anybody to be so naked–emotionally, physically and mentally–in front of the world.

The show has pushed boundaries in so many ways that it has made me push my own boundaries. It has made me a far more comfortable person with who I am; it’s very cathartic. It takes you into dark spaces and it’s only when you can go into your own dark spaces that you realise there is nothing to be scared of. When you have dealt with your inner demons, there is nothing to fear outside. How can the world really harm you if you have this safe space within yourself?

Go on…

Sometimes people ask me how do you glow so much or why do you have this energy around you? I know the answer is not in what I eat or how I exercise. The answer is in the fact that I have come [to be] at peace with myself. It’s not like I don’t have problems but what changes is how you look at those problems. There are a lot of things coming to the surface and the journey is from the subconscious to the conscious.

You started with the light-hearted Khichdi but even as early as Shaitan onward, the roles you picked have been complex and layered. Whether it was Pink or Indu Sarkar or shows such as Criminal Justice and Human, they are all prep-heavy films with intense characters. What attracts you to these kinds of projects?

I really believe that you attract what you give out. Even when I didn’t know cinema the way I know it today, I think I was subconsciously attracted to cinema that meant something. Khichdi might seem like a contradiction to what I said but it was so much fun! It made millions of people laugh and that is amazing. Cinema is about inducing emotions, whether it is laughter, happiness, joy, fear, sadness or pain. It should touch you somewhere in some way; it can’t be a zombie experience. Yeh nahi ke popcorn khaya, Pepsi pee, samose khaye aur nikal gaye! That’s not cinema for me.

The most exciting part for me is the preparation [for a role]. It is where I get to understand and go deeper into somebody else’s life and create that person. I think why people connect to my characters is because of the depth I am able to bring with them. Even for a fun film like Mission Mangal, I would do my prep. Maybe one didn’t see it in the dialogues but it was present in the silences and the expressions. While I can be selfish when I say that I want roles where I have something to prepare for, I’m also grateful that people have accepted what I have done. That validation when the audience gets what you are doing is very gratifying. A show such as Criminal Justice–which talks about marital rape and abuse–got me heart-warming messages from women who have gone through it and men who have understood it. It just makes my heart so full because this is what it’s all about. At the same time, I am somebody who has learnt to go slow in life. Everything matters to me–from eating a fruit to talking to you right now. I think the only way I can grow and keep doing better work is when I take my time and choose what I want to do carefully. I am at a very happy point in my life where everything just feels in place.

Is turning producer with your production house Kintsukuroi Films part of the evolution?

It is very much a manifestation of the evolution and growth I have had as an actor and as a person. Never even in my dreams did I think I would be a producer, even on paper. It has happened so organically for me. I think life has become quite spontaneous. I do the basic planning but beyond that, there are no plans. I just reached a point where I realised I have grown a lot as an artiste. I believe my understanding of films is pretty good because of the work I have done as an actor. I also felt that I wanted to have more to do with filmmaking. I am also changing and moving towards the real idea of filmmaking I have come to understand over the years. Films are made with passion, good intentions and with good people with good energies, and that’s what I am trying to do with my production house.

Can you tell us a bit about Nayeka, your first project as a producer in which you’re also starring?

It is very different from what people have seen me in earlier. It’s a story of an actress who has been struggling for 12-13 years and is barely surviving, which is the fate of a lot of people in the film industry. Her conviction and passion is so high that she is still at it with the same vigour. She then gets caught in a crime, changing her life overnight. The film is a dark comedy and it is at the post-production stage right now. We should be able to release it sometime early next year.

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