After making her Bollywood debut with the comedy film Khichdi: The Movie (2010), Kirti Kulhari was largely seen in films that had her essaying intense roles. This year though, the actress returns to the genre with a couple of comic ventures, which includes Khichdi 2 that takes her back to where she started from.

Kirti says, “The thing with comedy is that you have to get good scripts, otherwise where do you get to see good comedies? Surprisingly enough, 2023 is going to be my year of comedies. Apart from Khichdi, I also have Nayeka (her production venture), which is a dark comedy.”

Talking about her first brush with a comedy film, Kirti says, “When I was approached for Khichdi: The Movie, I decided to prepare and do my homework for the role. I met director Aatish Kapadia and asked him how he would want me to prepare for the film. I was surprised when he said, ‘Just come on the sets and have fun’. It was rather liberating as I come from theatre background and was used to working vigorously on a character. I have seen the film around 10 times and I really enjoyed the experience of being in the theatre with the audience and going berserk.”

As life comes full circle, talking about her love for the genre, Kirti elaborates, “I love comedy, but my kind of comedy is not the slapstick comedy. I like situational comedies. As an actor, I don’t believe it when people say that doing comedy is more difficult than doing drama. Yes, comedy is difficult than what it seems. People think comedy is just about faffing around and real acting toh rone dhone mein aur intense scenes mein hoti hai. That’s not true. Both of them have their own challenges. It is possible that a certain actor is not capable of doing comedy the way some others are. I also believe that you can’t develop a flair for comedy. It’s not like you say ki main comedy karna seekhta hoon. I think if you really want to be funny, you should be able to laugh at yourself.”

Talking about actresses who she believes excelled in comic parts, she says, “Sridevi did some amazing comedy films like Chaalbaaz (1998). Even Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla have been great in this genre. In recent years, Seema Pahwa has been brilliant. I have also loved Supriya Pathak in Khichdi and Ratna Pathak Shah in Sarabhai vs Sarabhai.”

Kirti, who looks forward to exploring the genre more, says, “The audience will be surprised to see my comic side. The reason for this shift is the fact that I don’t take myself too seriously now. I am not as inhibited and conscious as I used to be. Over the years, I have really learnt to let go and you will see that in Nayeka. I am happy that now people will get to see the fun side of me.”