Kirti Kulhari on Khichdi 2 Mission Paanthukistan: ‘I was possessed by this spirit called Parminder’

Kirti Kulhari in a still from the just-released film 'Khichdi 2: Mission Paanthukistan'.

Twelve years ago, Kirti Kulhari made her movie debut playing the role of Parminder in the comic Khichdi. In the years since, she has played seminal roles in hard-hitting films and web-series, including Pink, Uri: The Surgical Strike, Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors and Human. Perhaps, most popular for playing the recurring character of Anjana in Four More Shots Please, Kulhari is now back to playing Parminder in the just-released Khichdi 2: Mission Paanthukhistan, a direct sequel to the 2010 film, Khichdi: The Movie. Kulhari is also on the brink of shooting two international projects and finalising the first release under her own production banner. Excerpts from an interview:

You are revisiting Parminder after 12 years. Who was that Kirti and who is Kirti today?

She’s part of the same Kirti. I just need to dig into different sides of myself and I have started believing this more and more with every passing year, with every role I'm doing. This belief is becoming stronger and stronger that I'm everything, I can be everything and I can be anything, which also applies to how I look at life. I'm continuously trying to break definitions and labels as an actor and as a person. Twelve years since Khichdi, since I left Parminder behind. I, too, wasn't sure if she’s still around somewhere. I wondered if I have become such a serious actor that I have left comedy behind. But I didn't really believe that because the biggest comedy happens when you're able to laugh at yourself, which is something I have really developed over the years. I went on shoot and in the first take, when action was called, I was possessed by this spirit called Parminder. I can't tell you how liberating that process was because somewhere you tend to get to take yourself seriously, and then when you become as silly as Parminder. I really enjoyed that.

Four More Shots Please has some humour, but this is a more heightened comedy and after Pink, Human, Criminal Justice, Khichdi is a nice reminder that there are many facets to an actor.

Yes and I'm up for anything, as long as something about it excites me. What that is could be different for different projects. Khichdi is a certain kind of film. It's in a certain zone and is a particular genre of comedy. When I step into a film like Khichdi, I know what I'm getting into and I love it. I am the audience. It’s hilarious. Another I look for in anything I am doing is honesty. Are you just trying for the sake of it, or are you being authentic? Khichdi has always had that authenticity. I’ve done a different kind of comic film called Hisaab Barabar with Madhavan. It is a situational comedy which is very different from Khichdi.

Besides Hisaab Barabar, what else is on the cards?

The only web-series that probably will go into a season four is Four More Shots Please. I haven't done a new series in the last couple of years quite consciously, because I wanted to focus on films. I love feature films. And there’s Nayeka, which I have produced as well. I also have three to four more films that I'll be shooting in the first half of next year. I enjoy the fact that in whichever way, in my own capacity, at my own level, I get to choose what I want to do and how I want to do it, which is very empowering. Next year, with Sach Is Life and another international project that I'll be doing, I will open myself up to the international market. Life is opening doors for me and I just need to pick and choose the path I want to walk. I'm very happy where I am.

What is it that you're most looking forward to with this Sach Is Life?

It's the true story of this family, and especially this mother, whose five-year-old son gets diagnosed with DMD (Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy). Her world collapses in that moment, and a few days down the line, her world collapses once more after she realizes that she's the carrier of. In every case of DMD, the mother is the carrier, which is something that people are aware of now. The bottom line is that no matter what life throws at you, you have to make lemonade out of lemons. The film is about that. When this happens to the family, and their world collapses in that moment, how do they pick up the pieces and look at life from the point of view of giving the best to their son. Overnight, they leave their life in India and move to the US, in the hope of a better life, a better future and better treatment for their son. I was especially attracted to how the family stands together, faces life head on, and does not give up on this very small and underrated thing called hope.

What about your home productions?

Actually, that keeps me busier than I was as an actor. As an actor, I would work and then I could take time off till another project came along. Now, with this whole production thing, I just can't take off in quite the same way. There is always something to be done, a meeting, something to figure out. Things take time to bear fruits that people can really pluck and enjoy. I'm thoroughly enjoying this phase. The first film is ready, and we are figuring out the rest of it. I am trying to put together a couple of other things as a co-producer, too.

From Khichdi to Khichdi 2, how do you see your journey as a film actor over this time period?

It’s a full circle, literally from the person I used to be when Khichdi happened to the person I am today. I sometimes do a double take at that Kirti and wonder was that me? I've just come such a long way, more as a person. So much has happened — good, bad and ugly, in one’s professional life, and personal life. Then you see yourself on the other side of the tunnel, and you're alive and kicking and that something that really impresses me about myself. A lot of people lose their way, a lot of people get lost in the crowd, a lot of people get lost in their own situations in life, but I think I managed to hold on to a lot of things and I think I have really found myself in the last 12 years.