Kirti Kulhari: 'Four More Shots Please' Still Continues to Rattle Some Men

When Four More Shots Please! premiered in 2019, it arrived at a cultural moment on screen that was still negotiating its comfort with women who spoke openly about desire, ambition and contradiction. For Kirti Kulhari, the series also coincided with a period of profound personal and professional change. Over the years, as the show expanded its audience, Kulhari found herself evolving alongside it, confronting long-held ideas about her body, intimacy, fame and what it means to be truly comfortable in one’s skin.

Now, as the series bows out, Kulhari chats with THR India and reflects on the arc of her journey—from early hesitation and self-doubt, her personal life helping her ease into the Prime Video series, to how years of living and growing in public have reshaped both the actor and the person she has become.

Edited excerpts from the conversation:

This is the final season of Four More Shots Please, a show that has been an anchor for you. What does it feel like now that this journey is coming to an end?

There are different moments when it really hits you that it’s over. We knew while shooting that this was the final season, but it truly sank in during the very last shot. When the announcement came—“It’s a wrap on Four More Shots Please”—I completely broke down. That was the moment it hit me that we wouldn’t be doing this together anymore, maybe ever, or at least not for a very long time.

Today, there’s a part of me that fully accepts that this is the final season. And then there’s another part that feels the story isn’t really over yet. But right now, I’m at peace. I believe in endings as much as I believe in beginnings. Personally, I’ve had a wonderful experience this season, and that really matters to me.

When the show first came to you in 2018, what was your headspace like?

At that time, the OTT space was just beginning. I had only done theatrical films and had never been open to television. A part of me wondered if this was some form of television, because the screens were getting smaller and we were moving away from theatres. I questioned whether this aligned with what I had come to the industry for.

Initially, I even said no to the show because I don’t like stepping into anything with doubts. But Rangita (Pritish Nandy, producer) and Ishita (Moitra, writer) were persistent, and what excited me was how different the show felt. I hadn’t seen anything like it before.

And you had some reservations as well?

Yes, I had reservations about playing a mother; I worried about being boxed into that image. So yes, there was hesitation. But I think I just needed time to process everything and reach clarity on my own terms. Once I did, nothing was holding me back.

The first season also had a lot of intimacy, which was new for Indian audiences. I didn’t have a problem with it as an actor—I had grown up watching international cinema—but mentally preparing yourself and actually doing it are very different things. My then-husband, Sahil, was incredibly supportive; he reminded me that I was an actor and should be comfortable with my choices. Once I decided to do it, I went all in. The doubts never returned. And instinctively, I had a very strong feeling that the show would make noise.

I recall that when the trailer for the first season was released, the backlash from a certain segment of men was intense. Do you remember that phase?

Very clearly. Even before the full season dropped, the trailer itself rattled a lot of men. There was outrage, some said, 'How dare this show exist?' Interestingly, more men than women had a problem with it. I think it made them uncomfortable because they weren’t sure what it would stir within them. And that discomfort hasn’t really gone away.

How much have you changed as a person between season one and season four?

A lot. These last seven or eight years have brought immense personal growth. The stories we told on Four More Shots, the questions we asked, and the lives of these four women have deeply transformed me. During this period, I was also married and then separated, so there was a lot happening personally alongside my professional life. When I look back at the woman I was eight years ago, I don’t deny her... but I barely recognise her now.

Before the show, my comfort with my body, with dressing up, with putting myself out there was much lower. My roles were largely serious and performance-driven. Four More Shots brought out a different flavour in me with comedy, glamour and gave me confidence. Over time, I reached a place where glamour and no-glamour feel equally natural. Hair, makeup, intimate scenes, none of it feels loaded anymore. That mental neutrality is incredibly freeing.

What do you mean by that?

I mean that I never thought of myself as “hot” or “sexy” growing up. After season one, that image suddenly stuck. Eight years later, hearing that doesn’t affect me one way or another. That neutrality—of not being swayed by praise or criticism—is something I truly value. Your life as an actor and as a person inevitably intertwines. And today, I’m in a very peaceful space—comfortable with who I am, on and off-screen.