Kriti Sanon On Flawed Women, The Return Of Love Stories & Tere Ishq Mein | THR India at Red Sea

I like playing flawed characters. I like that people are writing flawed characters. I like that we're not perfect anymore. There has to be a grey shade and they have to make mistakes because they're human. We're not perfect. Is this this generation that kind of doesn't really is scared to go for the deep love? Do we not have conflicts anymore to find a love story? It's tough to make a love love story but I think internally we all are craving for it. We're craving for it in our lives also and more so in cinema. Kriti, you and I both know we could have done this interview in Juhu but there's something really special about taking Indian films to the world and so here we are in Jeddah at the Red Sea International Film Festival and what a time to get hold of you when your film Tere Ishq Mein is tracking so well in India. Are you constantly checking updates between engagements? I mean not here to be honest. I think work is the only thing that kind of can keep me away from my phone especially this time but I have been otherwise obsessively checking reviews and people's reactions and numbers and everything basically but it's been amazing. It's been really heartwarming to kind of see the kind of reaction and the intensity with which the film has affected people and how they've reacted. The messages are not like one line, they're messages. They're like properly heartfelt, I could not not message you kind of message. So it's moved people for sure. Which is amazing. You know the Red Sea is known to bring people here at a time when they're making a transition professionally, personally. I want to get a sense of what is your headspace and emotionally what made you want to say yes to being here? I actually was supposed to be here last year. We were in conversation. Unfortunately because of prior commitments my date didn't work out so I really I feel like Red Sea Film Festival has been like you know kind of supporting all kinds of cinema and you know it's every year is getting bigger and better and I'm really happy to be here and to be interacting with my fans here which we don't really get time to sometimes and the opportunity. So my sessions been amazing and yeah I don't think it's a, I mean people are feeling it's a transitioning phase but I'm just flowing honestly. That's so lovely. You know I was at your masterclass an hour ago and I heard you talk about how you notoriously have this image of asking too many questions on a set and I really love that for you. I want to know now as you sink your fingers and teeth into more meaty roles, do you feel filmmakers and industry folk just listen more intently when you ask questions? I mean I don't think I ever cared if they like it or they don't like it. You always asked. I mean I can't not, if there's something in my head, see firstly I feel like I can't just be a puppet and play a part or do what I'm you know just instructed. I need to feel it. I'm an actor at the end of it. I want to bring this character to life and I want to make this character special. Every character that I play and I feel like there's one genetic way of doing a scene which is easy. You'll never feel like oh she's bad or not acting well but you can only make it special if you get into the depth of it. So I always like asking my director questions, getting into the head of the director and understanding what more can I extract for the character you know and that's the only way you can make a character special. That's the only way I've grown. So yeah I am shameless when it comes to asking questions and I think now slowly I feel like whatever is said and done, I feel a good maker is always going to appreciate it. And more power to that really. And speaking about getting into the heart of the character, Mukti is easily being touted as a career-defining performance as it should be. While playing her, did you feel something quietly shifting in you? No, I mean she did take a toll on me at times. How do you mean? The film is very intense. It's got a lot of layers. It's also at a point physically, mentally, emotionally really draining you know especially towards the climax of the film. It's a bloody climax and it's got a lot of tears and heart and intensity and pain and guilt and everything in it. So that whole portion did take a toll on me. I used to come back home very drained. I remember my mom used to be like, are you okay? Is everything okay? But I think I like playing flawed characters. I like that people are writing flawed characters. I like that we're not perfect anymore. Women especially. Women especially. I mean that is something that also attracted me to Do Patti where of course it was the subject that we were talking about which was the main story and the main reason for me to do that film but the characters were flawed you know and that was amazing. There has to be a grey shade and they have to make mistakes because they're you know we're not perfect and despite that you have to kind of not judge your character. You need to know the reason of why she was doing what she's doing and you kind of need to know you know and I think in Tere Ishq Mein what is beautiful is it leaves you conflicted at the end because you feel What's also amazing is to have love stories back. Oh yes. You know as an audience member I'm thrilled because that's also so much of the cinema I grew but as an Indian female actor was it a bit unsettling to see how much towards alpha machoism our films were gravitating towards and I say that in the past tense because I hope that this is a shift in that direction. I mean your bigger films were all that. There was still like there was a Teri Baaton Mein and there was a crew happening. Those were also doing numbers so I think there was a shift towards storytelling and cinema which is a great shift but yes there's been almost an overdose of action in the past few years and sort of almost a death of love stories. The max we were making were rom-coms. You know it was not really we were scared of going deep. There were no more I don't know I feel like I'm just like in retrospect feeling like is this this generation that kind of doesn't really is scared to go for the deep love? What is it? You know do we not have conflicts anymore to find a love story? You know it's tough to make a love story but I think internally we all are craving for it. We're craving for it in our lives also and more so in cinema and clearly and that's why I mean I'm so happy that they're doing well. Coming back to the Red Sea Film Festival, when you're on a global stage like this getting to meet global colleagues, what are some of the conversations and rooms that you want to be a part of while here? I mean honestly I haven't met anyone yet. I've just had this beautiful session that I had so much fun in. I think interacting with different kinds of people you know is very enriching and we're all celebrating cinema you know of different cultures and parts of the world. There's a lot of also female voice that's been you know we're cheering and celebrating. There are so many female filmmakers who are also a part of the competition in general which is amazing and I look forward to really meeting actors and filmmakers and people from the fraternity of global cinema and having a good conversation. You know and I really believe in the magic of the film festival air. So if you were to manifest a project where budgets or markets or language was absolutely no barrier, what's the kind of film that Kriti truly truly wants to give her all to right now? Oh my god, very tough question. That could go basically global. Absolutely. That's why we're in Jeddah and not Juhu remember? I feel a female superhero coming from India. I wouldn't say Avengers but maybe our person who joins the army would be great. And sticking to our culture, sticking to like not wanting to or trying to be someone else. Being very rooted in Indian at heart you know. Making us proud. We're manifesting that. I would love to be that. And you're donning so many hats now whether it's an entrepreneur, whether it's a producer, whether it's an actor of course. What have you learned about donning these different hats? Do you feel like you need to do them one at a time or have you just learned to juggle them? You know I'm so bad at multitasking and it's funny that I say that and I'm doing so many things. It can sometimes kind of make me anxious. I also know that you're replying to DMs on hyphen every once in a while as well. Yeah I feel like there are 10 things going on in my brain and sometimes you know you have to kind of also switch off everything and be like you know you need to kind of make space for it. But I think eventually if you're passionate about something, if you're really interested in it, if you're not doing it because you have to do it, then it becomes easier. So what I've also learned is that you need to be excited to be a newcomer in a different field every once in a while and to not know everything and to learn. And to ask questions. Yeah and to ask questions because I don't know like when it comes to producing, it came from my heart. I wanted to be involved in stories more than just being an actor. I wanted to support stories that I felt needed to be told. You know domestic violence was something that I really felt for and I felt for that story and I was excited. Now there are aspects of producing that I may not know very well but I'm willing to learn you know and that makes it more exciting. Yeah well you've had an action-packed year so I want to know when do you get to? I don't know right now. And what do you do when you're decompressing? I don't know like a 10 day, two weeks break during New Year's. I'm looking forward to that and how but before that I'm shooting. Amazing. Yeah. It's the best of all worlds and I wish you no less. Thank you for talking to me. You know I have to actually add because we spoke what I read this quote somewhere and it's so amazing that something pops up when you really need it. What a beautiful privilege it is to be exhausted of the work that you once begged the universe for. So on that note yeah always be grateful. Would you say that's true in your case? Absolutely. Every time I'm feeling tired and I'm like oh god I can't do this anymore. I need a break. I feel like I remind myself that this is there was a time where I really really wanted this. So be grateful, put your head down and just work. It is a beautiful privilege. Yeah it is. Thank you. Thank you for talking to me. Thank you so much.