Kritika Kamra: ‘Okay to be stereotyped with women-led projects’

A still from ‘The Great Shamsuddin Family’

When an opportunity allows you to tick every box that excites you as an actor, you grab it with both hands. Kritika Kamra did exactly that with The Great Shamsuddin Family, an upcoming family dramedy helmed by Anusha Rizvi. The JioHotstar film marks the director's return 15 years after her acclaimed debut, Peepli Live (2010).

Alongside Kamra, the film features an impressive ensemble that includes Juhi Babbar, Sheeba Chadha, Farida Jalal and Shreya Dhanwanthary. "There are so many brilliant women in film, and then I was getting the opportunity to work with Anusha, whose Peepli Live I loved. I was really interested in just her voice as a director," says Kamra.

Kritika Kamra

In the film, Kamra plays Bani Ahmed, who is racing against a deadline amid the chaos stirred by her large, dysfunctional family. Her excitement about the role also stems from the belief that the character draws inspiration from Rizvi herself. "I could be starting this rumour, but I think it's a little bit autobiographical. There were times on set when I would look at Anusha and ask her, ‘Why do you look dressed like my character?'

Besides the fun, you [see] a subliminal message that Anusha is known for. The film is about belonging, identity, a family, and the eldest-daughter syndrome. Although I'm not the eldest in the film, I'm that daughter who takes up the responsibility of being the problem solver for everybody. So, I think it comes from her own experiences," she shares.

Kamra says the film's realism reflects Rizvi's desire to explore a regular day in the lives of different women. "Anusha likes a very realistic, chaotic, not done-up kind of world. She said the other day, ‘I wanted to make a film about women where they are not going on a road trip, or there's no big event being planned. I just want to see their relationships, the dynamic between sisters, cousins, different generations on a regular day'," the actor recounts.

The Great Shamsuddin Family marks Kamra's third women-led project after Kaun Banegi Shikharwati (2022) and Hush Hush (2022). She hopes such opportunities keep coming. "I feel like I have gotten a bit spoilt. [If at] anytime there is an opportunity to work with a woman director and more women on set, I'd jump at it. I want to be a part of it because I've had enough experience to know that it is very different from a really male-dominated, testosterone-high set. I feel there are some stories that need to be told with vulnerability. Certain stories when written and directed by a woman have more layers. I really enjoy being a part of it and I am okay to be stereotyped with women-led projects," she laughs.