Talktime
Kirti kulhari
After giving a stellar performance in movies like Pink & Indu Sarkar, Kulhari has teamed up with Irrfan in Blackmail. She speaks to Shalini Saksena about her role in the latest venture and how her biggest challenge has been to attract the right kind of script
What is your role in BlackmailIJ
My character’s name is Reena and who is married to Dev which is Irrfan’s character. They are a regular middle-class couple living in new Mumbai area. They have their mundane life. She is an emotional person who is bored and kind of lost in life. She ends up having an affair and what affair leads to is the basic premise of the film.
Did you have to struggle in making a mark in the industryIJ
There is always a struggle and therefore a question that needs no answer. My struggle was to get the kind of work that I wanted to do. I was already doing ads so it was not tough for me to break into that market. But I always wanted to films and therefore did theatre to work on my craft. Before that, I had never taken acting lessons or gone to an acting school. The whole idea was to do films and felt the need to work on acting. The struggle was to be seen in the right films. Even though a bunch of my films have done well, I had to prove myself again and again. But Pink changed all that. But it is still a struggle — of a different kind right now — just following a path the way you want to and stay true to yourself.
How did Pink and Indu Sarkar change youIJ
It’s not something that I feel but something that I know. The more I change as a person, the more I grow as a person and you see that growth in my films. You see this in anything that I do — a short film or even theatre. Anything that I pick up as an actor, at least it is true for me, it begins from a place from something that I want to explore and learn about specific topics that I want to know about. For example in Indu Sarkar, I didn’t know much about Emergency before the movie. But wanted to know and therefore it was an opportunity for me for the world to know you through that film. Similarly in Pink, we all knew about the issue dealt with, but I wanted it to be known by all through my character and in the process accept myself as a woman since we have a personal journey as well.
What kind of films are you looking forIJ
It is not as if I have checklist or names of characters written. My only checklist is that the role must do something to me, it has to move me, excite me for me to take it up and in the end do something to the viewers as well. It is about telling a story and exploring a side of me that I have not explored before; that people have not seen.
Do you think that story-telling is coming to foreIJ
Yes, absolutely. But this is not first time this is happening. If you seen the black and white era and see the quality of content, the kind of films that were made. There was not even a single movie back then where the woman was just a face. Today, we talk about the woman as a protagonist or women-centric films were being made. One will be amazed the kind of stuff that came out in the black and white era. There was the 90s when you had a lot of bad movies. But there have been eras where some very good cinema was made. It is good that the story is the hero now.
You said that Blackmail is different than Pink. Did you have to prepare yourself for the formerIJ
I didn’t have to do any research but what I did which I do for all movies is attend workshops — go through the lines, sit with the director, sit with the co-actors. All the basic things that one should do as an actor. But as compared to Indu Sarkar, Blackmail was different because of the space the latter is in.
How right or wrong is it to compare two movies of the same genreIJ
The comparison comes naturally to all of us. We have to be very evolved and be objective to see the things for what they are. To compare is fine since it comes naturally to people provided I, as an actor, am able to see the difference. It is okay to compare on issues like camera work, sound, etc. Comparison on any other issue would be incorrect.
What would you like to tell women who want to break the shacklesIJ
I don’t want to make it sound very philosophical. I just want to say that the work needs to be done by us. It is not going to happen on its own. You can’t expect people who you think don’t get you to get out of your way. The work has to come from you and fight and not see yourself as a victim.
Do you think that social media is being misusedIJ
Absolutely! When the social media was not there, people actually were out there doing real work, not that good work is not happening but it is less valuable work being done with people sitting at home commenting on issues that don’t concern them. But the social media can be used for something more constructive. Just because we have our phones and need to be on it 24X7 doesn’t mean we have to comment on everything. We should voice our opinion where it matters so something of value comes out of it.
What after BlackmailIJ
I am doing a short film, Maya ready for release. Then I am doing another short film called Popsicle. Then I am doing an Amazon show — Four More Shots Please by Anu Menon. It is about four women living in south Mumbai. It is a show that I am very excited about and hopefully will release sometime in September.