Kirti Kulhari and quality performances have become synonymous for me in the last decade as ever since her debut in Khichdi: The Movie in 2010, the actress has never disappointed me with her craft. Her performances have rather elevated the projects that she has been a part of, be it in Pink, Indu Sarkar, Mission Mangal, Four More Shots Please! or her latest offing Human.

And now Kirti is entering a new phase of her career altogether as she recently turned producer in the New Year. Her production house is named Kintsukuroi Films, and her first project under it is the dark comedy thriller Nayeka, which will also see her in the lead.

Talking about Nayeka, Kirti shares,

“You will get to see madness in the film. After Human, people wouldn’t be expecting this from me. It’s madness and in the few days I have already shot for the film, my mind has been boggled already. This character is crazy and the story is a dark comedy thriller, thus the combination of these three genre is completely insane. People can expect a mad ride with it.”

Kirti Kulhari at the muhurat of Nayeka (Source: Instagram | @iamkirtikulhari)

As excited as she is about turning a producer, Kriti acknowledges the challenges ahead for her as well, as now she insists it will be a task to separate the actor and producer in her.

She says,

“I hope I am not one of those producers who tell everything by themselves. I will have to maintain a balance. It will be a task for me to draw that line on what Kirti, the actor has to do and what Kirti, the producer has to undertake, and these lines will not merge.”

When I ask her on what kind of stories she wants to tell under her production, Kirti shares that she might not have anything specific in mind, but she knows the direction she wants to head in.

Kirti asserts,

“I want to tell stories which haven’t been told before, which talk about different things and themes. The work that I have done as an actor, my production will be an extension of that. The stories I will tell will be different, just like the ones I choose as an actor. I just want to tell good stories. I want that if I am making five films, all should be of different genres and themes, and this variety is something that the audience can expect from me as a producer.”

Now that production is already happening, has Kirti given a thought to maybe direction as well? As I ask her this question, she gives me a hopeful answer.

She responds,  

“Direction is something that is on my mind, but I am also someone who likes to take things one step at a time. So, since I have taken a step towards production for now, I want to understand that well first before stepping into another thing. But direction is something you can see me delving into , although not for the next couple of years.”

Having seen, admired and enjoyed the kind of Kirti has done as an actor, I am pretty pumped up to see how her approach changes as a producer. And going by what the actress has to say about Nayeka, it is indeed going to be a “mad ride” that I am excited to embark upon.