‘BOX OFFICE NUMBERS BRING BIGGER, BETTER WORK’
Kirti Kulhari believes box office numbers are always important for actors, no matter how big one gets
Riding high on the success she has achieved in 2019 so far, actor Kirti Kulhari remains modest and is not willing to take credit for how her work has been lauded.
“I do the work I do... It’s not the first time I’ve worked hard or am doing good work. It’s just that the results are very positive, so everyone’s kind of talking about it. It’s the right time,” says the 34-year-old.
Her films this year — Mission Mangal and Uri: The Surgical Strike
— entered the ₹200-crore club, and the web series with Emraan Hashmi, Bard of Blood, also fetched her good reviews.
Commenting specifically on how much importance she gives to the numbers her films earn, Kirti tells us, “They’re always important. I don’t think there’s a time [when you say] ‘ab mujhe nahi chahiye’. Even the biggest of stars want box office numbers. It helps you strengthen your position [in the industry], gives a boost to your market positioning. It gets you more, bigger, and better work. That’s about it. It’s always essential to have these in your life.”
Kirti’s upcoming projects include a film where she plays a musician, and she reunites with Bard of Blood director Ribhu Dasgupta for The Girl on the Train, playing a cop alongside actor Parineeti Chopra. Though her web series overall has fetched only decent reviews, Kirti feels happy the way her character was praised.
“It’s been overwhelming. I fell in love with my character, Jannat. I think the name gets stuck with you. I kind of expected the response from people, who are loving it. In The Girl on the Train, it’s my second outing with Ribhu. I play a British police officer, which is very different for me. Everything about the character — the way she looks, the whole track… the look is something that has never been done before in Hindi cinema. It’s a first in a lot of ways. It’s wonderful to kind of do a film together with two more girls. That’s become my forte, to have a bunch of girls and everything,” says Kirti.