[5] Valu, released in 2008, was a light, enjoyable movie portraying various stereotypical characters found in an Indian village through the simple story of a wild bull which needs to be captured.

His second release in 2009, Vihir, was an abstract movie which told the story of an adolescent boy who sets out to understand the meaning of life and death after his cousin and close friend dies.

His next writing and acting venture in Marathi cinema, the movie Masala released in 2012 quickly became a family favourite, unveiling new aspects of his talents.

In 2013, he made his acting debut in Bollywood with film-maker Anurag Kashyap's thriller Ugly, in which his performance as the inadvertently funny cop brought him the attention and praise of the industry as well as the masses.

Later in 2017, Kulkarni portrayed local gangster Appa in Faster Fene, based on the popular book series written by Bhaskar Ramachandra Bhagwat.

With a star studded cast, including Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Radhika Apte, Sacred Games has been lauded by critics as one of the best web series to come out of India.