Kirti Kulhari admits being 'sidelined' in Pink by Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu: 'Who is big or small?'

Actress Kriti Kulhari opened up about getting sidelined by Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu during the promotions of Pink, and how she had a meltdown after realising the PR game of 'big actor, small actor'. In a conversation with Fever FM, Kriti said that while they were shooting for Shoojit Sircar's film, she considered Pink the story of three girls and considered all actors equal. However, she got her first shock, after watching the film's trailer, which was mostly centred around Amitabh and Taapsee. 

Speaking about her realisation of 'big actor-small actor', Kriti said, "When Pink happened, for me, there was never a thought, ‘Who is big or small’ in terms of their status in the industry. I was like it is a story of three girls. That’s how I saw it. I came from a space where I believed ‘We are all actors. We are all together'. But Pink made me feel a lot of ‘big star-small star’ treatment. The people around you make you feel that way.”

After getting disheartened by the film's trailer, Shoojit assured her that her role would be appreciated after the film was released. Speaking about the positioning of the actors, Kriti said that it was during Pink that she learnt about how actors are set in the hierarchy. "I never do PR. I believe my work will be eventually seen. However, during the promotions, the PR machinery happened for Taapsee because she came after Mr Bachchan (in terms of hierarchy) in that film. Eventually, it became her film and she became the Pink girl in terms of positioning and I saw that happening in front of me." 

Kriti said that her PR game was zero, and the kind of treatment she got during Pink shook her. Asked if this experience affected her relationship with Taapsee, Kriti admitted that it did, but also clarified, “I think from her side, she didn’t notice this. She has been nice to me but that whole PR game, I took it a little personally,” the actress added.  After Pink, Kriti made sure to be clear about positioning of the actors, and she followed the same while signing Mission Mangal and Four More Shots Please.