With successful releases such as Uri, Four More Short Please and Mission Mangal to her credit, it is safe to call 2019 a great year for Kirti Kulhari.
“Well, of course, I would like to believe that my career has acquired a momentum now and I am in a good space. My work is not only being critically acclaimed but it’s also doing well and I feel validated,” says the overwhelmed artiste.
Now making news for her latest web-series Bard of Blood on Netflix, Kirti says, “I am playing Jannat Mari, a Balochi girl, who later becomes a leader fighting for women’s rights and education in her community.
She studied in the UK and was initially a painter but decides to come back home and gives it all up to begin her fight for the rights of her own people.”
To master her role, Kirti had to learn Urdu—a language she knew a bit of earlier. She also had to understand Balochistan’s history, culture, people and more. On her character, she says, “Jannat is fierce and a very strong person. She is driven by love and compassion for everybody.”
The series will also have Emraan Hashmi, who plays an ex-RAW agent, as her love interest, and Kirti is all praise for the actor.
“He’s very disciplined. Also, it’s so much fun working with him. He strikes a very healthy work-life balance.” Helmed by Ribhu Das Gupta, it also stars Vineet Kumar Singh, Sobhita Dhulipala and Amyra Dastur.
The series has been shot at real locations in Ladakh and Rajasthan. “Shooting at real locations always gives you an upper hand. External elements may not always be in your control, but it all adds to your performance. Real locations add to fleshing out a character,” she believes.
Produced by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, the spy thriller is an official adaptation of Bilal Siddiqi’s bestselling novel with the same title. It is Kirti’s second outing on the web platform.
She explains, “I feel digital has become a great way of telling so many different stories. Though we are still away from producing some really amazing stuff, you can nonetheless see the change happening.’’ She also agrees that the digital space has widened the horizon for young artists.
“It’s not about a pretty face anymore, but more about content and acting skills, besides audience connect. Thanks to this platform, there’s a sudden upsurge of a lot of talent around,” she says.
At the same time, Kirti agrees that shooting for a web series is a lot more hectic compared to films. “You have to deliver at a faster pace. There’s always a time crunch and you’re always trying to do more in a day,” asserts the Indu Sarkar actor.
So, has she made it to a ‘secure zone’ in Bollywood? Kirti says thoughtfully, “I haven’t really looked at my career that way. While we all love the idea of being secure, I don’t know if you can ever say that, especially in our industry.
Besides, I feel ‘insecurity’ pushes you to do better every day, while ‘security’ makes you stick to your comfort zone.”