Interview | Kirti Kulhari on Returning to Busan With 'Full Plate' and The Resilience of Tannishtha Chatterjee

After some curious detours (Badass Ravi Kumar, Hisaab Barabar), actor Kirti Kulhari is back in her lane. In Tannishtha Chatterjee’s new directorial Full Plate, she takes the central role of Amreen, a homemaker and mother compelled to expand her horizons after her husband is injured in a freak accident. She finds employment as a cook for a liberal-minded Hindu couple, but struggles to make sense of their finicky vegan diet. The film, examining themes of identity, discrimination and personal freedom, had its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival.

This was Kirti’s second trip to the fest—her 2013 film, Jal, also premiered there. “It was wonderful to return to Busan after a decade,” she says. “I attended the opening ceremony red carpet followed by our world premiere the next day. It’s always validating to see filmmakers being celebrated in such a grand way. In Bollywood, everything revolves around stars, whereas here a festival was creating a starry night for filmmakers and artists.”

Excerpts from a conversation...

How was the reception to Full Plate at Busan?

We had our screening in a 500-600 seater theater. It was almost packed. Koreans, unlike Indians, are not very expressive with their reactions. They were watching the film in a lot of silence. Although our film is set in Mumbai, it’s the story of a social strata that is everywhere yet goes unseen. At one point, I turned to Tannishtha and asked, ‘Do you think they are getting it?’ But because I have been there before, I understand them culturally. I had a sense that they were enjoying the film. We had a Q&A after the screening and 90 per cent of the people stayed back for it.

Was there a question or observation that you found particularly perceptive?

My character in the film, Amreen, is in a hijab, and it's an important part of her identity. There was one woman in the audience who said that, given the way the film was progressing and how Amreen was moving towards her freedom, she thought that Amreen would give up the hijab. But at no point during filming Full Plate did me and Tannishtha have that question. Freedom and emancipation is not about what you are wearing; it’s more internal.

Tannishtha was diagnosed with Stage 4 oligo-metastatic cancer during the post-production of this film. When did you get to know about it?

We shot the film last year. I think I'm one of the first few people she called up with the news of her diagnosis. She stays close to my house, so I’ve been meeting her and have been in touch with her. I knew how she was doing at different points of time. She had her challenges finishing the film and she also lost her father last year. She's been holding strong. When Busan happened, she had to be careful with her travels. Thankfully, I was with her through the whole thing. It's amazing to see this woman holding strong. The filmmaker in her is overpowering all her adversities. She also won the Visionary Director Award at the Marie Claire Awards. It’s amazing to see her be celebrated for all that she has been through. Of course, she needs to take care of her health, eat well and rest, which I must say she is very mindful of.

Is the experience of being directed by an accomplished actor markedly different?

Tannishtha and I had worked together in Jal. She was also supposed to direct something with my production house, which didn't work out. I always knew she had a spark as a filmmaker. I have not even seen her previous feature, Roam Rome Mein, but I had this inherent faith in her capabilities.

…I don't think I've worked with a director who has pointed out and helped me bring out the nuances as much as Tannishtha has. Funnily, when I signed on for the film, she asked me a million questions but forgot the most important one: can I cook? When it finally struck her, she instructed my manager to ensure I practise chopping vegetables the traditional way and not use a chopping board. One day during the workshops, I carried tamatar, pyaaz and a knife and chopped those veggies in two minutes, just to show her I knew my stuff. I remember her eyes widening and she going, “Wow… all right!”.

You've had a comically diverse year, starting with the Himesh Reshammiya-fronted Badass Ravi Kumar and the modest R Madhavan comedy Hisaab Barabar. The fourth and final season of Four More Shots Please! is also inbound.

Consciously or subconsciously, I needed to break the image I had as an actor. Operating in an industry where stereotyping is such a sickness and a disease, I feel happy to be just doing my thing. I feel quite cool about myself. From hereon, no one will expect the same thing from me. This is my path and it’s only going to get crazier. Even the film I am shooting right now in Kerala, it’s like nothing I've ever done before. It’s such a cool character.

You’d announced a film called Nayeka in 2023 under your production house, Kintsukuroi Films. What stage is it in?

Honestly, I do not know. I came on board as a co-producer. The producers are doing their thing, which I don't have much clue about. There are too many hoops to jump through in film production than we realise. I have experienced a lot in the last two years. Things work out and then they don’t. It’s not an easy process. Hopefully, I will have something to announce soon as a producer.