She’s reigning hearts and the Box Office! And as she gears up for the release of her most intense love story yet – Tere Ishk Mein – the gorgeous power-performer Kriti Sanon talks exclusively with Aakanksha Naval-Shetye about being fearless in her passion for cinema, taking risks, and rewriting her own story as she continues to break boundaries, take bold leaps, and redefine what it means to be a self-made star in Bollywood
Fearless, fierce and unstoppable! Kriti Sanon is all the buzz today. With her intense portrayal of Mukti in the soon-to-release Tere Ishk Mein opposite Dhanush creating curiosity and amping up excitement like never before, she is certainly the Belle du Jour! From being an outsider with no filmy roots to becoming one of the industry’s most bankable and versatile stars, her journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. Ten years, three genres in one year, a National Award, and a brand-new production house later — Kriti Sanon stands tall as one of the most fearless voices of her generation.
2024 proved to be her year — she charmed audiences with Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, stole the show in Crew, and ended it on a high note with the intense and layered Do Patti, her first film as a producer. Now, as she gears up for the release of Tere Ishk Mein with Anand L. Rai and Dhanush, Kriti is ready to return to her first love — the world of passionate, all-consuming romance.
“I think I get attracted to stronger women characters. Women who can be vulnerable, but at the same time have a certain strength of their own.”
Fearless in her choices and unafraid to tread the unpredictable path, Kriti continues to challenge herself with every performance — effortlessly moving from laughter to heartbreak, from light-hearted charm to emotional gravitas. From an engineer who dared to dream beyond convention to a National Award–winning actor and producer carving her own cinematic space, her story is a masterclass in persistence and passion. A self-made star who believes in evolving with every role, she’s not just telling stories anymore — she’s shaping them. And as she steps into her next chapter, it’s clear that there’s no stopping Kriti Sanon.
As I catch up with the young star for our exclusive interview, there’s no denying that Kriti Sanon is defining her own path. There’s a calm confidence in the way she speaks — of risks and the hunger to keep growing. Whether it’s an emotional drama, an out-and-out entertainer, or an intense love story, Kriti approaches it all with the same fearless conviction. And here she talks about it all.
2024 belonged to you! Not only with three movies in different genres, but also you turning producer and completing a decade… And now all eyes are on your soon-to-release Tere Ishk Mein! What’s the headspace like?
Yeah, 2024 started with Teri Baaton Mein… and Crew, and then ended with a very intense Do Patti, which I absolutely loved, both performing and producing. It was challenging. It was everything that I was looking for after the two comedies that I did. But my favourite genre has always been love stories. And I feel like, unfortunately, there are very few people who make love stories.
And I haven’t done one for a very long time. So I was actually craving to do something like Tere Ishq Mein and work with a director like Anand L. Rai, who I’ve known for so many years and always craved to work with. He’s been on my list. And finally, I get to tick mark that.
And working with an actor like Dhanush, everything in the film was just extremely exciting because it was very different from anything I’ve done before. It is probably the most intense love story that I’ve come across.
And I loved every bit of it. I’m glad that people are loving everything that’s come out, whether it’s the teaser or the song.
Now I just hope the audiences love the film as much. I also feel like there’s a dearth of love stories. And I feel especially the current generation hasn’t seen enough. There’s been an influx of a lot of action, a lot of comedy, horror comedy. But love stories have been missing for a while. So I feel an intense love story like this will actually connect with a lot of hearts.
Is there any similarity at all between Mukti and Kriti Sanon when in love?
That’s an interesting question. I think the film will answer it better once it’s out. For now, I’d just say Mukti and I see things differently, and that’s what makes her so intriguing to play.
There’s a quiet strength in many of your characters, even when they’re vulnerable whether it was Mimi or Do Patti or now Tere Ishk Mein. Is that a reflection of you, or is it something you consciously try to seek in your roles?
I think I get attracted to stronger women characters. Women who can be vulnerable, but at the same time have a certain strength of their own. I think that attracts me. I don’t think I get attracted to a very ‘damsel in distress’ sort of a character.
It could be because that’s me as a personality where I want to be inspired by a character a little bit, where I feel that I want the audiences to see this character and find a bit of strength, even in the toughest times. So whether it’s Mimi, whether it’s Do Patti that has me play two characters, one is so traumatised, yet there is some strength that she finds somewhere. And the other character, Shelly, balances her out. So there are different perspectives.
I also feel that gone are the times when women were perceived in a certain way. Now, we want to look at it from a woman’s lens, where a woman could be vulnerable, she could be strong, have some grey shades. She doesn’t have to be perfect. She doesn’t have to be all coy. So that attracts me. Also it’s a part of the cinema changing slowly, because it’s no more just about the male gaze. Women also want to see stronger women, which is more inspiring and more relatable.
“I would love to do a negative role. I think something that’s extremely grey and extremely away from me, that nobody expects me to play. And that also scares me a lot. Because I want absolutely no similarity between me and the character. So I would love to do something as negative and as whacked out as Gone Girl. Also, I would love to play a female superhero.”
Working with Dhanush must’ve meant stepping into a very different cinematic rhythm. How would you describe your equation on set with him especially in an intense love story like Tere Ishk Mein?
I think Dhanush is a fabulous actor. He’s also a director and he’s also been in the industry for very long to kind of really have a very strong hold on his craft. He knows what he’s doing and he still is someone who would like to find a way to do it differently. And I had a great time. I’ve admired his work previously.
And I knew when I was stepping into this film, that when you have a great actor in front of you, it kind of brings something different from you as an actor. And I think from day one, when we were on set, we kind of hit it off and we were feeding off each other. And that’s what you look for when you’re doing something as intense as Tere Ishk Mein.
He’s also someone who, while he knows what he’s doing and what he wants to do, will understand how you’re looking at the scene and try to collaborate in the true sense. So we’ve had some amazingly intense, hardcore scenes in the film. Sometimes when we finished a scene, we kind of looked at each other, and we were like, okay, that really went well.
Or we kind of hugged each other. We were like, it was a good scene and that’s something that you create when you’re doing a film like this. So I’ve had such a good experience working with him. I would love to do a lot more work with him. Hopefully we find many more films together.
Your character Mukti in Tere Ishk Mein is being compared to Shahid Kapoor’s in Kabir Singh. What’s your take on it?
Maybe the comparison to Kabir Singh has only come because they’re both love stories. And there is a section in Kabir Singh where you see the character drinking and sort of self damaging. And that’s a part of Tere Ishq Mein too. But there is absolutely no similarity beyond that. Mukti is a very, very different character. Actually, I wouldn’t compare it to any character I’ve ever seen before. It’s one of those roles that was probably my only role that I went on set, not completely knowing Mukti, but wanting to figure her out during the process, while I was holding Anand Sir’s hand. I’m usually an actor who likes being prepared, who likes knowing the character absolutely, doing my research and when I’m on set, I know what the character would do, what she would not do and how or why she’s behaving the way she is in every scene. So, I would be fully prepped. But this was a character that was a certain way on the paper. But I knew that Anand Sir looked at her very differently.
And I was willing to completely surrender and find Mukti during the shoot by just walking side by side with Anand Sir and it was a beautiful process. I think it was so refreshing for me to not know everything and to find Mukti. There were just certain things I knew about her, which I kept as a core.
And the rest of it, I just flowed. It’s a special character. I don’t think I can actually compare it to any other character we’ve ever seen.
“Maybe the comparison to Kabir Singh has come because they’re both love stories. And there is a section in Kabir Singh where you see the character drinking and sort of self damaging. And that’s a part of Tere Ishq Mein too. But there is absolutely no similarity beyond that. Mukti is a very, very different character. Actually, I wouldn’t compare it to any character I’ve ever seen before.”
With Do Patti, as a producer, you put the spotlight on women-led narrative. Do you see that as a personal responsibility or simply a natural progression of the stories you’re drawn to?
I don’t think as a producer I see it as a personal responsibility to put the spotlight on women-led narratives. But I do get attracted to stories that have a lot of substance for the female characters. It could also tomorrow be 50-50, it could also have a really strong male perspective and a female perspective. The reason I chose Do Patti as my first was more because of the subject firstly, that it dealt with, which I felt very strongly for – domestic violence. And I really wanted to show domestic violence in a very different light, through a very different lens that hadn’t been done before. And also probably at that time, I was craving to find something really meaty for me as an actor. Post-Mimi, I hadn’t found something that challenged me enough or that gave me that range to sort of perform as an actor. And I was looking for something like that. So I feel like when you don’t have the opportunity on the table, you can create it.
And that’s what I did. But it’s not something that I have in my mind as a producer. It’s more about the story that connects with you. The story that you feel like you want to tell as a producer, not just as an actor.
And it could be a male centric story as well. But yes, I think I would always want the female characters to have some substance and not just be there for the heck of it. I don’t think I would ever get that.
Looking back from your debut till now, what’s the one risk you’re most proud you took, even if it scared you at the time?
I would say the risk that I’m the most proud of has to be Mimi, because I remember when I was taking on the film, a lot of people told me that, you know, oh, surrogacy is a very serious subject. Why are you going in this zone without really knowing the script? And a lot of people said, ‘Oh, why would you want to be a mother at such a young age?’ And it was noise that I very happily blocked.
I connected with the film, with what it was trying to say, the story of it, the character, the graph the character had, that made me really excited to play the role. And I’m happy that I kind of gave it all and chose it as the first film that I wanted to carry on my shoulders. And, yeah, at that time, it was a bit of a risk when I was taking it up. But I think when you take a risk, it kind of pays off if you give it all. So I’m happy and glad and proud that I did it.
What proved to be the game-changer for you?
Again I would say the same, I think Mimi is the one film that turned out to be the game-changer for me, whether it’s people looking at me differently, with the kind of roles I started getting after that or the kind of a very sort of secure feeling I had after doing the film, because I think it made me realize that I could do so much more. And I was not scared anymore. And I didn’t want to fall into, ‘Oh, I need to do this kind of a film or that kind of a film’. It sort of reassured me that I need to take the risks that I want to. And I need to follow my heart. And of course, with the National Award! It was a dream come true. And I think a lot of things changed more from my perspective of choosing the kind of films that I really wanted to do without being scared at all.
“There are very few people fortunate enough to get amazing scripts and amazing directors in the beginning of their career. I’ve also had my ups and downs… There was a time when I was sort of craving to lead something and after like some six, seven years, I got something like a Mimi. But it took that time.”
They say it’s lonely at the top, is it true?
Well it can be lonely at the top. Especially in our profession where you spend about like four, five months with one set of people that almost become like family. You’re eating together, you’re spending the whole day together. And it’s almost like a sinking feeling when the film is ending because you feel like, ‘Oh, you’re not going to be with these people again for very long’. And then you move on to the next film and then there’s the next set of family. So people keep coming and going in and out of your life very easily, especially in our profession. And everyone’s running from one film to the other and is in their own world and in their own space and busy. So it’s not like we get enough time to catch up. We don’t. But at the same time, I feel I have always been someone who’s had very few. I can count my friends on my fingertips. I am very friendly, but I think the people who are really close to me are very few. I’m terrible at keeping in touch. So I keep in touch with just the few people who I carry with me and regardless of what film I’m doing. So I think you just need to be surrounded by a few true friends who are there in your ups and downs, who sort of don’t change with your success and failure, who are there in your highs as well as your lows. And they have to be few in number and you just carry them with you. And everything is gonna be fine.
What’s the one lesson you’ve learnt along the journey so far?
There are quite a few lessons actually. First, don’t take your successes to your head and don’t take your failures to your heart. Successes and failures both are equally temporary, and you have to just keep moving. And you have to make sure that you’re giving your 200 percent in every single film, because that is the only thing that’s in your hands. The fate of the film is dependent on too many factors that you cannot control. And secondly, I also feel there is no formula. You know, every actor has a different journey.
For some actors, some kinds of films might work. And you have to find what works for you, you have to listen to your heart. At the end of it, there is no formula, you can’t do a film because it is a kind of film that ends up doing well, it may not end up doing well. So I don’t think there is ever a formula, you have to find a film that you actually connect with, and a film that’s journey is going to be exciting for you as an actor, whether it’s the people involved in the film, whether it’s the kind of role that you’re doing. I think you have to look at the journey more than the destination, because the journey is way too long. And whether a film does well, or doesn’t do well, again, it’s not in your hands.
But that journey, those memories whether you grow in the film, how you evolve in the film, what you take back from the film comes from the journey. And that is something that I keep more in mind than, ‘Oh, is this good? Is this going to be a hit film…’ that’s never in your hands. So always go with what excites you and what makes you feel alive and excited to be on the set.
Looking back, if you could, what’s the one advice you’d want to give to Kriti Sanon – the newcomer?
Well one advice that I would give Kriti Sanon the newcomer would just be, follow your heart. Don’t follow what other people say. There will be a lot of people who tell you, this is the right kind of film or you should do this kind of a film because it’s going to be a hit. Or this is a big project you should be a part of. Or this one is going to be a big announcement. And it’ll be good for your career.
I think, make your own mistakes. Don’t make mistakes that tomorrow you end up blaming someone else for. You know, you’d rather make your own mistakes that you learn from and move on. And that’s the only thing I would say, just keep doing what you love doing and just follow your heart and only that.
There’s so much pressure on stars to look a certain way, or tweak their bodies to fit certain standards… Have you ever felt that pressure?
No, honestly I don’t think I’ve ever taken the pressure of looking a certain way or having a certain kind of body. Maybe because I’ve naturally been very lean from the very beginning. In fact, I used to be extremely skinny in the beginning of my career. But I think I take the pressure of the role. If the role requires me to be a certain way, that for me is very, very important. So, you know, if I’m supposed to do action, I need to look a certain way. The kind of workout I do changes. If I have to put on weight for a film, and I need to look a certain way, that changes. Like while I was doing Mimi, I was never ever scared of how people would look at me off screen, when I have that weight on me. I don’t think I ever cared. For me, I think the only pressure of how I’m supposed to look is what I take on screen, not off screen.
A dating advice to all the youngsters out there?
I think the younger generation, I feel like moves on very easily from one person to the other. And I also somewhere feel like there is probably less belief and love. And also a certain amount of fear of heartbreak, fear of being too attached. So while I would say that, allow yourself to feel love and allow yourself to be attached. Don’t be scared of that feeling. But at the same time, be very selective of the people who you allow to get very close to you emotionally. Every time you’re emotionally close to someone or just close to someone and that person becomes a part of your life, you end up exchanging a lot of energy, you end up giving a lot of time and effort. So the person needs to be worth that time. So take your time when you decide who that person should be. Easier said than done, I would say. But yeah, that’s the only advice I could have.
“I would love to do a negative role. I think something that’s extremely grey and extremely away from me, that nobody expects me to play. And that also scares me a lot. Because I want absolutely no similarity between me and the character. So I would love to do something as negative and as whacked out as Gone Girl. Also, I would love to play a female superhero.”
An entrepreneur, a producer, a successful actor, what’s next?
What’s next? I don’t think I found the next one yet. And I’m not in a hurry.
I think these roles are enough for me to be occupied and to be excited. And, you know, to kind of keep going and keep finding what I want to do in these spaces. I don’t think I’m looking at a next yet or I feel the need for a next.
I think I’ve never like really decided that, ‘Okay, I want to do this, this, this, this’, it has to come to me, I have to feel it, whether it’s skincare, whether it’s fitness, everything that I’ve done, whether it’s producing a film, everything that I did was something that I felt at that time. And I felt passion. I felt excited enough to be giving that much time to it. So for now, I think these roles are enough until I find my next.
What has changed in the way you choose and approach films today vis-a-vis when you first started?
I think when you initially come into the film industry, especially when you’re not from a film background. First of all, you don’t have so many options in front of you. So you do what you feel is the best out of the very limited options on your table. And also you’re still finding yourself both as an actor, the kind of roles that you like doing, the kind of films that you like doing, the kind of films that the audience likes you in. And you’re choosing from the very limited options and you have this thing in your mind that you have to make a space for yourself in the industry, you’re yet to prove yourself as an actor. And you want to be seen, you know, you don’t want the audiences to forget you, you want to keep working. So it’s a very different approach.
There are very few people fortunate enough to get amazing scripts and amazing directors in the beginning of their career. I’ve also had my ups and downs. I’ve had a time when I finally wanted to choose something very out of the box and do a Bareilly ke Barfi. There was a time when I was sort of craving to lead something and after like some six, seven years, I got something like a Mimi. But it took that time. Now I feel I’m more in a space after about 11 years in the industry where I’m finally choosing the roles that I really, really want to do or the makers I really want to work with or the genres that excite me or challenge me.
So now it’s more about the excitement and what challenges you, what excites you to be on a set. It’s no more about just wanting to be on a set and be seen in, you know, on the big screen. It’s more satisfying. And at the same time, you’re not running in a race. You are doing things that you really want to do as an actor, exploring different genres, taking the risks, and giving yourself the chance to also breathe in the middle of it all. If you’re not finding anything exciting enough, like 2024 honestly, was a year I had three releases. But it was also a year when I did not shoot any new film. And it was because I didn’t find anything exciting enough. Until I found Tere Ishq Mein, which started shooting in 2025. And I was absolutely okay with that. There was no part of me that was like, ‘Oh my god, I haven’t shot a film’. I wanted to do the right kind of film. And that was more important. You shift towards quality over quantity. You know, as you progress as you sort of find your space in the industry.
You excel in the fun characters like in Crew as well as the more intense roles, but what comes more easily to you and do you tend to gravitate more towards a certain genre?
I love comedy and I love doing comedy. I think very few roles are written for women in the comic genre. And I’ve fortunately had a few, whether it’s been like Bareili Ki Barfi, Lukka Chuppi, there was some comedy in Mimi, there was a lot in Teri Baaton Mein and Crew. It’s definitely a genre that I love doing. But I don’t like doing loud comedy. I don’t like slapstick. I personally gravitate towards situational comedy where it’s more about the situation and the reactions that make the scene funny. And I always love a good comedy whenever it comes my way. But at the same time, I think time and again, the actor inside me sort of craves for something more intense. I think intense roles as an actor give you a lot more satisfaction because there is a certain release that happens as an actor. And so I end up balancing it out. Every time I’ve done a really intense role, I think I start craving for something like a comic genre. And once I’ve done a comedy film, or sometimes even while I’m doing I’m like, okay, I need to find something more intense. Now I’m craving for that. So that’s why you’ll see that I always keep moving from one genre to another.
“I think it was so refreshing for me to not know everything and to find Mukti. There were just certain things I knew about her, which I kept as a core. And the rest of it, I just flowed. It’s a special character. I don’t think I can actually compare it to any other character we’ve ever seen.”
You’ve worked across genres — romance, comedy, action, fantasy, horror-comedy, sci-fi… Is there any genre you are very keen to explore next?
I would love to do a negative role. I think something that’s extremely grey and extremely away from me, that nobody expects me to play. And that also scares me a lot. Because I want absolutely no similarity between me and the character. So I would love to do something as negative and as whacked out as Gone Girl. Also, I would love to play a female superhero. I don’t think we’ve had one. And I would love to, I think there’s a lot of scope of, you know, us having a female superhero. So something in that zone would be really exciting, which has like a combination of sci-fi and action in it, and probably some emotional core to it as a film.
If you could describe your current phase in one word — professionally and personally — what would it be and why?
I’m happily balanced, where I’m flowing. I’m not running, I’m not still, but I’m just flowing. Both in my professional as well as personal life. I feel like I’m really going with the flow, doing things that make me happy. But also having a beautiful balance where I’m not crazily overworked and only thinking about my work life. And I’m not only thinking about my personal life. I think I’m balancing both beautifully. And I’m still excited. And, you know, with the roles that I’m doing, with the work that I’m doing, and I’m only doing things that make me happy. I’m not choosing anything that doesn’t give me excitement or happiness. I think I’m listening to my heart a lot more.
You started out in a fairly conventional commercial space, but you have constantly been evolving in your performances and raising the bar with each movie with layered, complex and challenging characters! Several of these roles must have required you to take a leap of faith as an actor. What’s always given you the confidence and that fearlessness to push the envelope further each time?
I feel, yes, I started with a conventional commercial space, but very soon in my career, I knew that I didn’t want to be put in a box. I didn’t want people to feel ‘oh, if it’s Kriti Sanon’s film, then it will be this kind.’ I didn’t want that.
Also, as an actor, I’m hungry. I get bored of the same kind of roles. So, I want to find something which is challenging, which is something away from what I’ve done before. I want to look like a different person in different films. I want to attempt every single genre because I feel the audiences are very varied. And Bareilly was probably my fourth film. And it was also a conscious decision to do something that people didn’t expect me to do. Nobody expected me to be a small-town girl. I was getting very open roles before that. And the moment Bareilly came out, suddenly I got a lot of small-town roles because people now could see me in that. At the same time, I’ve always wanted to try period films or do something which had a little more meaning to it, gave me a little more to dig deep in, like Mimi, or completely go into a horror-comedy zone with Bhediya, or whether it’s been like Teri Baaton Mein or Crew. I always get very excited when the role is something which challenges me or scares me a little bit, or I don’t know how to do it, or I don’t know how to figure it out, or whether I’ll be able to pull it off or not. I think that excites me as an actor. And I think that in the back of my head, it becomes one of the reasons why I choose what I choose. Of course, I do believe in balancing things. So it’s also about doing the commercial films that entertain the audiences. Not every film has to be serious and intense. Even as an actor, you get drained when you do a very heavy film. And you want to take a break and do something which is slightly lighter. So when I did Tere Ishk Mein, it was extremely intense and heavy. And I’m glad that I’m shooting for Cocktail 2, which is a completely different zone.
So I think it’s always the excitement of doing something different from what you’ve done that keeps you going, at least me it keeps me going.
Quick Seven
Quick SevenWhen in doubt, you…
Listen to my heart
A guilty pleasure…
Gol gappe, butter chicken, dal makhani, basically all Punjabi food!
Pet peeve…
When people make sounds while eating with an open mouth or when they slide their shoes and walk
If your life had a theme song…
‘Dil hai chhota sa, chhoti se asha’
3 Words that describe you best…
Simple, curious, driven
When not shooting, you would be seen…
Trying Hyphen samples or travelling
One thing not many know about you…
I’m a homebody. Also when I’m not working, I can be extremely lazy!
COVER CREDITS
Photographer: @lisadsouza
Makeup: @kavyesharmaofficial
Hair: @alpakhimani
Styling: @sukritigrover
Cover design: @iamitcreates
Artist Reputation Management: Spice PR (@spicesocial)