Kirti Kulhari talks about self-growth and choosing roles at Futurebound

From choosing roles to dealing with mental block, actress Kirti Kulhari spoke about her life and more at at Futurebound, a three-day pan-India youth conference organised by the AIESEC (Association Internationale des Étudiantsen Sciences Économiques et Commerciales) chapter. India’s biggest virtual youth conference is mentored by Infosys.

The Pink actress addressed youngsters at the session ‘Unfazed Conversation’ on the last day of the conference.

Excerpts from the session:

Make your own choice

When I was growing up, there were very limited choices available to us like engineering, medicine, teaching, and defence. At that time, if I wanted to become a chef, I would have to go about explaining to my parents why I wanted to be a chef and how I could make a living out of it. It is the same with the art industry. For the current generation, the film industry is very welcoming. Also, I personally believe that parents should support their kids most of the time, no matter what.

As for the youth, it is not gonna be easy but you have to choose your battles, find the strength to fight those battles and to remember that the most important thing in this world is to make your own choices no matter what the consequences are.

Right now, there is so much work happening in the industry, thanks to OTT platforms and more content being generated. There is a demand for people in every department of the industry. Yes, it’s easier for somebody who is already in the industry to make a place there. However, while it’s good to be aware of the general vibe of the industry, sometimes ignorance is bliss. Learn to discern because everything that you see and hear is not necessarily the truth. If you want to be a part of this industry, you shouldn’t let anything come in the way.

Choosing roles

I am getting better with every role to play. In every new film, people get to see me give a better performance. This growth makes me feel very accomplished. I put my sweat and blood into every role that I do. Hence, all roles are very special in many ways and all of them stand out for me.

I am what I am today because of all the choices I have made. If one just focuses on being amazing at what they do and never compromise on their goals, every decision of theirs will ultimately take them to the shore.

To be able to say something of value that makes a difference, is very important to me. It is a big part of my decision-making. So yes, I do choose such roles that have the potential to bring about even the smallest change if possible.

To be able to contribute to society, you need to contribute to yourself first. If you yourself are confused and haven’t grown to be a healthy person, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, you can’t contribute. Only if you work on being a quality person yourself first, will you be able to improve the quality of the society.

Dealing with mental blocks

I have been going through this block for the last month or so where I have no idea what to do next. We all go through these phases multiple times in our lives. What we should remember during such times is that it is ok to not be ok. If you are going down, you are also going to come up. You have to just sit back and try and observe your life from a distance and remember that this too shall pass.

The human side of a celebrity

We might be public figures but we are also humans at the end of the day. Everybody thinks they can have an opinion of how you should look, talk, behave, etc. I was affected by it for some time, but then I realised it’s so easy for people to not like you when they don’t know the kind of person I am. We want our Bollywood heroines to look a certain way. I am also lucky to be a public figure because all of this negative baggage gives me an opportunity to know myself better.