Kirti Kulhari, who made her debut with the 2010 comedy Khichdi and is making a comeback to the genre in the film’s sequel, is gung ho about coming full circle with the film, which will see her reprise her character, Parminder.

“I returned to this film with a bang when I got the offer. I started off with Khichdi, and I was super excited when I was approached for this (the sequel) again. A part of me was also like, ‘Ab toh main dikha dungi’,” gushes the actor.

Recalling her first day on the sets of the sequel, Kulhari says she was back to her character’s natural and light-minded self. “The last time, my first question to my director (Aatish Kapadia) was how he wanted me to prepare for the role and he told me to just leave my brain at home, come on set and have fun. This time, there was no conversation with him. He just knew that I remembered Parminder,” she shares. adding that on the first day of the shoot itself, she was put into a “hilariously over-the-top dramatic scene”.

“I think I killed it. I just went for it, and my team, who have seen me do serious stuff the past few years, were like, ‘Who’s this person?’ I asked myself, ‘Do I still have it?’”

Talking of this ‘comeback’ to comedy, the 38-year-old, who came in for appreciation for her performance in her OTT debut Four More Shots Please! says, “[The show] was also comedy but was misunderstood. And here I am, doing Khichdi, which is exactly the kind of comedy that people think is comedy.”

Kulhari, who announced her first film as a producer last year, is aware that the road ahead isn’t easy. “After establishing myself as an actor, it’s sort of a panga that I’ve taken. I’ve spent the last year meeting people and understanding a lot of things about the industry, the market, and the way things function,” she says, adding that turning producer has brought its own share of learnings.

“When you’re acting, you’re living in your own body, limited to one aspect of it. You’re in a comfort zone while playing a role. But being a producer, I’ve started noticing a lot of things around me on the set about people, and the dos and don’ts I should be following now as a producer,” she wraps up.