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.”

The year began on a positive note for Kirti Kulhari who turned producer with Nayeka. As she took the film on floors recently, the actor-producer welcomed Sharad Kelkar on board. The actor, who was recently seen in The Family Man 2, is taken by the dark comedy written by director Ajaykiran Nair. “I loved Ajaykiran’s writing, which made me say yes to the project. Being Kirti’s debut production, the film is all the more special,” he says.

Nayeka sees Kulhari essay the role of a struggling female actor, who accidentally gets caught in a crime. Kelkar, who plays the leading man, describes his character as “a badass with a great sense of humour.” “Kirti is wonderful with her craft, and gets into the details of her character. Usually, it takes [actors] the first few days to adjust to each other, but we hit it off from the word go.”

For his role, the actor has grown a moustache. “I can’t play my part honestly if I am not dedicated to my role. It’s not just what’s on paper that makes the character; the look, costumes, and physical traits also [shape] a character. So, I grew a moustache rather than using a fake one.”

In her repertoire of movies, Kirti Kulhari has been seen in a variety of films, however, not every time did she have lengthy screen time. But that doesn’t mean her performance didn’t grab our attention and leave a mark. While she faced her own struggles to create space for herself in Bollywood, it was through the OTT platform that reinstated her faith in her acting career.

In a candid conversation with BT, she talks about a new chapter that she began in her film journey this year, about her separation from husband Saahil Sehgal and how that phase was a liberating experience. Read on. . .

I grew up with the idea of becoming a Bollywood heroine who sings and dances. Only after I stepped into the industry, started doing theatre and watching foreign cinema that my vision widened. So, while I wanted to do the typical Bollywood stuff, I was mesmerized seeing varied content and from thereon, an inner conflict started growing inside me. I wondered if I would get to do such powerful roles here in Bollywood. Every time I was sort of given a choice to make, I did end up choosing the kind of films I actually enjoy watching.

Yes, I did start off with a Khichdi: The Movie (2010), but then I also did a Shaitaan (2011). Not every choice that I made worked commercially and that’s where I kind of lagged behind. If I chose the kind of cinema that I chose and it did commercially well, then I think it would have been easier for me to say, ‘Oh, wow I found my path. This is what I love doing and this is doing well, too’. That way it would have been a win win for everyone. But it didn’t happen that way. Pink (2016) bridged that gap between commercial viability of a film and critical acclaim. It assured me in a way that maybe this is your path. It was at that point that I consciously took a stand and almost became unapologetic about it. I think I have left a mark with almost every film I have been a part of, and I think that is also the reason why when OTT showed up in the country, I was probably among the first names that came to filmmakers’ minds. I never believed that anything you do goes unnoticed. If you have done something well, it will shine no matter what. Along with OTT (Kirti was seen in shows like Four More Shots Please!, Bard Of Blood, Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors), I am open to a lot more stuff in Bollywood. But I have come too far to kind of go back and say... Let me just sing and dance in your film.

I think filmmakers have been a little confused over how to cast me for Bollywood films. They are not sure how much I am willing to try in the commercial space. And then, some of the films that I did, didn’t turn out the way they should have, which distanced the filmmakers even more. It happens because Bollywood purely runs on box office. What you get to do, how much you get to do depends upon your box office success, for sure. For me, Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) and Mission Mangal (2019) changed that in a big way. I believe that there might be filmmakers wanting to work with me, but then factors such as, throwing names (networking and recommendations), commercial viability and the commercial standing of an actor — that persists, and eventually stops them. So, while multiple times, I was at a point where I was losing my faith in the way this whole system works in Bollywood and wondering if my real talent would ever get recognised...it was OTT that reinstated my faith. As I moved along one project after another, I realised the power it holds and the kind of freedom it provides me as an actor.

It came from the fact that people have been taking me seriously and it has strengthened my position in the market. So now, I want to be a part of the storytelling process in a bigger way. I wanted more control. Also, every time I consumed content, I felt certain scenes should have been done in a certain way. So, I thought why not have a first-hand experience instead. The first project that I am co-producing is Nayeka, in which I play an actress and that way I get to essay multiple parts.

My marriage pushed me in a way which has really made me evolve as a person. This whole experience that I have had with Saahil has really made me a better human being. It took a lot of contemplation to come to this decision.

But once I took it, the kind of strength and empowerment I felt is something that I never felt before. It was the toughest decision to make because it had an impact on a lot of people around me. It is liberating for me to stand up for myself. Liberation is all about feeling free to make your own choices to move on in life like you want to. It has, in a way, given me a lot of confidence to take more and more important decisions in my life and just stand up for myself. In that sense, it has been very empowering and very liberating. It has made me a wiser person. Today the views I have on marriage, the advice I can give to men and women about marriage are so different from what I would have had four years ago. So, surely this is the better and the best version of me for the world to see.

I am very open towards love, but is there a need for another? No! There is no need for another, because I have also really understood the idea of selflove. I think coming out of my marriage has also brought me closer to myself and made me connect with myself in ways that I have never before. I am very happy in the space that I am in. There is no need for another, but yes, if there is something out there for me, I would be more than open to it. I love kids in general and I want to do something for kids. There was a time I really loved the idea of being a mother and having my own kid. But the way life has panned out for me, the idea kind of faded away. If you ask me today, I see myself being unmarried and not being a mother for the rest of my life. That is the plan I have for myself for now. Rest, I don’t know what turn life will take, but this is how I see it now.

Considering that producing a film is a herculean task, one may assume that Kirti Kulhari’s decision to launch her own production house must have been a calculative one. However, the Pink actor is not one to chalk out elaborate plans. “In 2020, I was talking to a friend about making my own movies. It was something that simply occurred to me, and lingered. I knew I wanted to have more to do with film-making, and be at the top as far as story-telling is concerned,” says the actor, whose stable Kintsukuroi Films is inspired by a Japanese word that refers to the art of mending broken pottery with gold. “I want to mend broken hearts through art,” she says.

The house’s first product is Nayeka, helmed by Ajaykiran Nair, which tells the tale of an aspiring female actor who gets entangled in a serious crime. “When Vashisht Upadhyay [producer], first brought the film to me in January 2021. I was immediately on board to act in it. It was deferred due to Coronavirus. When we picked up the conversation in October again, I had a production house, and the original producers agreed to join hands with me.”

Over her journey in Bollywood, Kulhari has given many a winning performance. Her approach towards playing a character, she says, is internalising her state of mind. “The character would always be original, because it would stem from the person I am. I have to find her inside me. I’m good at neither imitating, nor borrowing. I observe myself a lot and try to bring that character from within me. I’ve never played a part like this one.”

Her aim as a producer in Bollywood is to tell stories that are “moving, and which make a difference to the world”. “I am focusing on films. It’s a good time to create content. So, I know it’s a conducive time to think out of the box and push the envelope.”

Does direction fascinate her? “It is in the vicinity. I want to be comfortable with production before making that leap.”