'It was liberating.'
Four More Shots Please Season 2 is breaking the Internet, and that's keeping one of its actors Kirti Kulhari busy during the lockdown.
"I am working, promoting Four More Shots Please from home," she tells Subhash K Jha.
"I am also connecting with fans to talk about things I believe in, like Ayurveda. I am into yoga as a form of feeling healthy, rather than doing weights."
Four More Shots, says Kirti, has been a lot of fun.
"We had a lot of fun doing the two seasons. It's like a big bunch of friends come together to have fun," she says.
"Having said this, I must say it's hectic work. We shot in Istanbul. Getting the relevant permission, flying out there with such a large crew was not easy. It looks effortless, but it's a lot of hard work along with fun," Kirti adds.
"Sayani Gupta, Bani J, Maanvi Gagroo and I have grown close though we have had our share of differences and times when we connected with one more than other," Kirti acknowledges. "But now, all four of us are in a healthy space. The show has brought us together. We are emotionally connected."
Kirti had to perform sexually frank scenes and utter sexually frank dialogues for the series, and she was okay with that.
"I am very comfortable with sexual themes. I was ready to take on the frank sexual content. It was liberating," she says.
Kirti is using lockdown time to re-evaluate her life.
"I can't wait to start afresh. So many things in my life have become clearer to me. I see this isolation as an opportunity to heal my soul," she says.
"I know people are suffering and my heart reaches out to them. No point in getting anxious and impatient. It is time to cleanse our interiors," she says.
"I am in a more meditative space. I am reading after a long time. If I feel like watching something, I go for a movie, not a series. I don't have the patience to sit through a series," she says.
"I am cooking, helping my mom with household chores. I am listening to music, doing my riyaz. Most of all, being with myself."
Does Kirti find herself eating more than usual?
"Not at all," she says. "I am eating less because of less activity. I have been experimenting with my diet for a year now. I have come to realise that we eat out of habit more than what the body needs. So since December, I am on intermittent fasting. I have become a mindful eater."
Sleep?
"My usual eight-nine hours. I am not overdoing anything. I am leading a disciplined life through the crisis," she says.
Kirti's advice on how to get through the coronavirus crisis?
"There is a lot to be learnt from this experience. This crisis is not about you and me, but the whole world is engulfed in it. It's time for the human race to re-think," she says.
"We need very little to survive, so stop the excesses. This is Mother Nature's warning."
"We think we can rule the universe. How wrong we are!"
"No matter who you are, everyone is in the same situation today. So get basic about your lifestyle."
"Learn to share what we have with others."
"It's time to re-condition our lives."
"After a compulsory pause, it's time to press the refresh button."
Kirti has a lot on her plate in coming months,.
"I am in the official Hindi remake of The Girl On The Train. I am also doing a feature film with Director Raj Singh Chaudhary, where I play a singer," she says.
"I have a short film directed by Pavan Kriplani and then I have another series on the OTT platform at the end of the year, which I am very excited about."
