Sleepy yet overwhelmed — that was Kirti Kulhari’s state of mind when we caught up with her over a call just as she was boarding the flight to South Korea. The actor, whose movie Full Plate is premièring at the 30th Busan International Film Festival, said, “I am quite overwhelmed, both with excitement and exhaustion. At the same time, to know that I’m going with a solid film is making me feel confident.”
Full Plate features Kulhari as a homemaker with a talent for cooking. Through the central character, director Tannishtha Chatterjee explores themes of gender, faith, identity, and resilience. For Kulhari, saying yes to the movie was a no-brainer the minute she knew that Chatterjee would be at the helm. “I’m so fond of Tannishtha. I’ve not seen her first directorial venture [Roam Rome Mein] but I believe in her sensibility. When we met to discuss her film, just knowing that it was going to be written and directed by her told me that it would be done right. That made me say yes immediately, even before she finished talking about it,” she recalled, before adding, “That Tannishtha could envision me as a cook working in people’s homes made me so happy. She believed in me, I believed in her and in myself — so Full Plate is a mix of a lot of beliefs coming together.”
With the two having shared screen space in Jal (2010), Kulhari knew it would be wonderful to be on set with Chatterjee again. Being directed by her made it all the more enriching. “I’ve never felt more satisfied [in my career] than I did while working with her. She is nuanced as an actor, and that gets enhanced when she is directing because she can see so much more. She helped me go deeper to [find] moments beyond the written lines. After a point, she’d look at me and I would know [what she wants].”
Kulhari will close a busy 2025 with the fourth season of her popular series, Four More Shots Please! What can we expect from the upcoming instalment? “We knew how important the fourth season would be because the audience would expect us to up our game. That’s exactly what has happened. It’s a spirited and high-energy season with lots of fun.”
