Kirti Kulhari Interview: On ‘Four More Shots Please!’, working with women filmmakers and finding her footing

Actor Kirti Kulhari is reasonably contented arsenic her fashionable show, Four More Shots Please! is coming to an extremity with the precocious released 4th season. She feels that determination is nary consciousness of incompletion. “There is excitement arsenic the caller play is coming aft a mates of years. But determination are nary jitters successful maine arsenic to however it volition beryllium received. It has been a agelong relation with the full squad and I americium happy,” she says.

When the archetypal play of the amusement released successful 2019, the streaming abstraction successful India was inactive exploring the caller avenue of storytelling. So, erstwhile Kirti was offered the show, it seemed similar a caller territory to her arsenic she had started to found herself arsenic a superior histrion with films similar Pink (2016), Indu Sarkar (2017) and Blackmail (2018). She was hesitant to instrumentality it up initially.

“I had ever wanted to beryllium connected the large surface and that’s what I had done since I started my career. Going into the streaming abstraction felt similar a plunge to me. But erstwhile I look back, I consciousness grateful to person done the show,” Kirti says. “It was a relation that radical didn’t expect maine to do. They had not seen maine successful this ‘glamorous’ avatar. So, it made radical look astatine maine successful a antithetic light”.

The histrion has gone done a agelong process of uncovering her footing successful movies. When she started out, her instauration to cinema was done the commercialized films, and that’s what shaped her attack erstwhile she starred successful comedies similar Khichdi: The Movie (2010) and Sooper Se Oopar (2013). Soon, her palette grew wider arsenic she began navigating beyond the mainstream and began watching a drawstring of overseas films. With the 2016 evocative courtroom-drama, Pink, Kirti started getting recognised for her acting chops. At the aforesaid time, she besides developed beardown opinions astir “massy films”.

“I couldn’t spot myself successful that abstraction wherever determination was hardly immoderate relation arsenic a pistillate and each you had to bash was look beauteous and dance,” she says, adding however her judgement of specified films made her consciousness ‘closed’ arsenic an artist. She credits Four More... for helping her interruption that obstruction arsenic she explored a antithetic medium. “I felt a spot constricted before. There was this feeling wrong that I person truthful overmuch much to offer. I was not feeling expansive arsenic an artist. Four More Shots Please! changed that successful galore ways,” she says.

Kirti carries the originative state to this day, arsenic seen successful her prime of films successful 2025 wherever she starred successful R. Madhavan’s small-town comedy, Hisaab Barabar, Himesh Reshammiya’s over-the-top massy spectacle, Badass Ravikumar and Tannishtha Chatterjee’s layered drama, Full Plate. “Now, I deliberation I person proven myself arsenic an histrion with each the ‘meaningful’ and ‘serious’ worldly portion besides doing immoderate amusive films and shows. In a way, I americium conscionable opening myself to everything without having judgements and opinions,” Kirti adds.

What is besides peculiarly peculiar astir Four More... and Full Plate is that these are stories told by women filmmakers. Kirti agrees that the acquisition of moving with women directors is different.

“If I person intimate scenes oregon if I americium wearing immoderate revealing clothes, it helps to cognize that you are being looked astatine with a regard of support,” Kirti says. “When we are moving with women, our starting constituent is the aforesaid and we are connected the aforesaid leafage from time one. We person experienced akin things successful antithetic ways passim our life, truthful the transportation is already made. There is simply a consciousness of abandonment and camaraderie that we are successful this together, that we are not telling 2 antithetic stories from 2 antithetic perspectives,” she says.

When asked if determination is simply a definite quality oregon a benignant of movie that she won’t similar to beryllium a portion of, Kirti says that determination are nary beardown parameters arsenic such. “When you determine to bash a peculiar project, determination are aggregate factors astatine play, whether it is your ain caput abstraction oregon however excited you are astir the story. So, it is hard to accidental that I won’t bash something. I americium conscionable unfastened to correspond arsenic galore people, arsenic galore characters and their antithetic variants,” she says.

At the aforesaid time, Kirti believes that it is important for actors to person a conscience portion selecting films. However, she says that she is answerable to herself for her choices than to others. “It whitethorn hap that I volition beryllium criticised oregon trolled for thing that I extremity up doing. But beyond the thought of what is expected of me, determination is simply a Kirti who I request to satisfy. So, if I take thing which radical deliberation of arsenic a misuse of my presumption and powerfulness arsenic an actor, I volition person my reasons to bash it. I won’t expect the satellite to recognize it,” she concludes.