Kritika Kamra’s intimate, no-frills wedding in March to cricket presenter and entrepreneur Gaurav Kapur reflects her belief in living life on her own terms. The actress rose to TV stardom at 18 but soon stepped away to explore more meaningful acting opportunities. After 20 years, her performance in The Great Shamsuddin Family (2025) brought renewed critical acclaim. In a candid chat, she reflects on her marriage and evolving approach to work.

He’s the life of the party, while I’m more of a quiet, corner or bar-seat person. It balances out perfectly. He has always been funny, and I love his humour, but he has this deep, sensitive side to him. What really surprised me about him was his emotional intelligence. Women are often conditioned to be the anchor, the wise one while men aren’t as emotional or expressive. But with Gaurav, that couldn’t be further from the truth. He’s deeply attuned to the feelings of others. To me, that kind of emotional intelligence is a true sign of kindness, taking the time and effort to understand what someone needs and then showing up for them, often without being asked.

It’s been quite seamless. Just a week after our wedding, we were both back at work. We’re both mature, self-made individuals, so it doesn’t feel like a big adjustment. It’s more like living with my best friend. We both understand how a household runs and what it takes to manage everyday life. Earlier, we were doing everything on our own. Now there are two of us, and that just makes things more efficient. There are no rigid roles or fixed rules in the house. It’s very fluid, whoever has the time takes care of what needs to be done. Nothing is left pending because it’s ‘someone’s job’. I joke that my deliveries don’t get sent back anymore if I’m not home!

I’ve been privileged to choose my own timeline. There was never any pressure from my family. I stayed single until I wanted to and got married when I felt ready. Financial independence and living on your own shield you from societal noise and are incredibly empowering.

We’ve both been in Mumbai for a long time and have mutual friends. It really started with some online banter, and then we met and kept meeting after that. It grew quite organically from there, beginning as a friendship. We were also familiar with each other’s work through social media. While I’m in films and he’s deeply rooted in cricket, there’s actually a lot of overlap in our interests. I’ve always enjoyed watching cricket, even before I met him. And he, on the other hand, is a complete film buff. He remembers the most random film dialogues. Sending reels and memes to each other is our love language.

Both Gaurav and I are huge fans of The Office, so we had the Jim and Pam wedding song playing at ours. It was completely last-minute and unplanned. Someone just asked what we wanted to play, and we went with that. Suddenly, all of Gaurav’s friends were walking us up to the terrace. No one really knew what was happening or what they were supposed to do, but that’s what made it so special and memorable.

No, not at all! He was actually quite lazy about it but I’m okay with that (laughs).

It’s one of the best things that I have ever done. People discovered it on their own through word of mouth. The performance demanded a certain restraint. In a scene, my character, a single woman, says how she doesn’t want to be strong anymore. Many could relate to that. I didn’t approach the film thinking it would change my career trajectory. I wanted to be a part of it because I miss these slice-of-life films that were made by Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee in the 70s. Shoojit Sircar’s Piku briefly brought that sensibility back, but such storytelling has largely been absent. Being part of a film that revisits that space was nice.

Proud to have earned a pivotal role in the political thriller Tandav, Kritika Kamra opens up on the inherent prejudices against television actors in Bollywood

Talking about the inherent prejudice against actors who hail from television, she begins, “I have faced it a lot. The kind of work happening in television gives content creators the authority to assume that TV actors overact or will be loud. After screen tests, directors have told me that they were surprised by my understated work. Many producers have also candidly told me that they want a film face, and I am overexposed due to television. This, after I have nailed the auditions. There are actors who transitioned after a show or two. But once you’ve become a popular television face, it’s a tough road ahead. The good thing now is that the audition process has become streamlined. The bias will exist, but I will battle it out with good work. As long as the process is fair and square, I can live with that.”

As she charts her career ahead, Kamra wants to break the perception about her. “I am choosy. I have always been so, even with my television work. I owe the medium a lot. It gave me face value, popularity and financial freedom to say no to things that don’t gratify me. Having said that, I hit saturation. There was little diversity, and after a point, it wasn’t fulfilling me emotionally as an actor. There was a distance between what I wanted to do and what I was doing.”

With films, too, the actor faced her fair share of struggles. After Mitron (2018), she was lying low before returning with the Amazon Prime Video series. “Big films came my way, but I wasn’t okay playing a prop in a man’s world. TV actors are spoilt because the shows are women-oriented. I signed some films that didn’t materialise,” she recounts, hoping that the political drama unfolds a new chapter for her.

Preparing for her role was not easy for Kamra, who plays a Kashmiri student politician in the series. “It makes sharp commentary on scenarios that will resonate with people because they hit too close to home. This character was not relatable to me; I had to empathise on a deeper level with her trials. It helps that the show is so well-written [by Gaurav Solanki]. My character’s conflict was well-etched. Plus, Ali has incredible clarity on his creative vision.”

Kritika Kamra, who has com pleted a decade in the TV industry, believes in calling a spade a spade. BT recently caught up with the actress for an exclusive chat on sets of her show, and as the conversation unfolded, Kritika got candid about her failed relationships, TV actors' gruelling work schedules and costume dramas on television. Excerpts...

While you are already playing Chandrakanta, Ekta Kapoor is coming up with a new show on the warrior princess on another channel. What do you feel about that?
We will continue to do our work for Prem Ya Paheli - Chandrakanta. People keep asking me why I did not work with Ekta Kapoor on her show, but this one was offered to me first. Obviously, nobody waits when a good offer comes along. Also, if one show works, that plot and subject set a trend for the rest of the shows. That's how TV works.

There are already many costume dramas on television...
Unlike India, in the West, costume dramas are shot in seasons. Unfortunately, we don't work like that. The TV industry is dictated by ratings and a show changes its course according to the weekly feedback that the makers receive. If the script is ready right from the beginning, we can shoot episodes in advance. Even the quality of computer graphics will be better then. But sadly, we shoot till the eleventh hour, which makes it difficult for everyone.

Your previous shows, Reporters and Kuch Toh log Kahenge, didn't work too well in terms of ratings...
Kuch Toh Log Kahenge was an adaptation of a Pakistani show. What do you expect when you stretch a 15-17 episode show into a 100-150 episode drama? Obviously, the quality will suffer. I gave my best to both the shows.

We have heard that unlike other actors, you take a weekly off. How did you manage that?
Last month, I shot for around 25 days. TV is a gruelling medium with long working hours. Even today, my shift timings are from 9 am to 9.30 pm and I reach home by 10.30 pm. I am a single woman living in Mumbai and I need time to do my banking, groceries and basically, manage the house. Even if I choose to delegate my household chores to a domestic help, she can't do everything. Forget chilling and leisure, I think it is a human need to have at least one weekly off in any profession. I am now 10 years old in the industry, so yes, I have worked out a weekly off with my producer. But newcomers don't have that luxury. What if one falls sick? I have also decided to take a break after every show. I need to live my life.

Personally, are you ready for marriage? While you spoke about Karan (Kundra) when you broke up a few years ago, you chose to keep quiet when your second relationship (with a corporate professional) didn't work out...
There is nothing wrong if two relationships in my life didn't work out. I learnt a lot, there is clarity of thought and I am not cynical about marriage. I agree that it is a tough decision to make. There is so much stress in urban life that you are not able to juggle both marriage and work life. I believe in marriage and when I get married, I will leave my work. It's impossible to be in a relationship otherwise. I was dating Karan when I was 18 and at that time, I didn't have any issues in admitting to my relationship. Even after we broke up, I found it cool to ride a bike with him and put it out on social media. But after that, I learnt my lesson. After Karan, I never admitted that I was in a relationship, so where is the question of having a break-up? It is better to keep it that way. I don't mind living in with a guy or getting married, but right now, there is no relationship to talk about.