Unconventional… that’s one word often used to describe Kalki Koechlin. Be it her choice of roles or balancing her different worlds, the actor — who debuted in Dev D— is known to take the road less travelled. In the city to inaugurate AbilityFest2015, an international disability film festival at Sathyam Cinemas, Kalki gets talking to Metroplus about how she got into the arts, her choice of work and more…
How did your early years in a boarding school in Ooty get you interested in theatre and films?
In school, I was always part of the drama festival — doing both original works and classics — and slowly got passionate about it. After school, I didn’t know what to do with my life; my parents wanted me to go abroad to study. But I thought the only thing I would not get bored of was theatre, and so, I took that up. Of course, my parents were shocked. They thought I was in a fantasy world; my mum kept encouraging me to do a Masters in something else other than theatre. But I stuck to theatre. I finished my course, joined a theatre company and then came back to India.
Coming back, you must have faced many challenges…
Oh yes, how about basic survival for a challenge? Surviving off theatre was difficult; I was secretly borrowing money from my brother. I remember doing all sorts of odd jobs; some writing work, lot of modelling and some terrible ads. I would go for auditions at least five times a week, armed with different outfits. I’d be an airhostess in the morning and a few hours later, turn into a dancing girl. What kept me sane all along was theatre. I kept doing plays; some with Rajat Kapoor, some with Atul Kumar. I did theatre workshops; those kept me grounded. I knew I wasn’t going to settle for an item girl sequence or the stereotypical white girl. I was greedy for roles; on stage, I’d played so many characters with depth that I wanted the same in films.
You are far from the conventional Bollywood heroine…
See, you are either conventional or not… and I’m not! When I got Dev D , I was thrilled. I was terrified about my Hindi; did two months of tutoring. I would research material, watch movies and of course, read a lot. For any actor, the fun and challenge lies in constantly trying to make the character you play real and believable.
Let’s talk about films dealing with disability, considering you’re here for the AbilityFest. How has mainstream cinema dealt with such characters?
In cinema, we often see disability as someone very special and pure. We put them up on a pedestal; make them extraordinary. What’s missing is the ordinary script; why can’t we have a normal love story with a differently-abled person?
Well, your Margarita with a Straw was one such ‘normal’ story…
That’s what drew me. Five minutes into the script, I forgot she was disabled. All I saw was a teenage girl, her sense of humour and her problems. That Laila, my character in the film, was not perfect drew me…in a way, she was quite chalu !
I hear that you do intensive homework before taking up any role. What did you do to become Laila?
Before the film, I knew nothing about disability. Fortunately, the director (Shonali) had a cousin, Malini, who had cerebral palsy. She was my mentor and tutor; I practically lived with her. I went to work with her… and we went out for drinks. She lent me her wheelchair and we’d race each other. It was important that I saw her in a private and public space. That was a huge part of the preparation. Of course, I then had to work with the physiotherapist and speech therapist to understand how they speak and breathe. So, it was part observation and part practise.
Life must be good post the positive response to the film. What next?
I’m doing a film called Waiting , about people in coma. It deals with loss, medicine and hospitals. Fortunately or unfortunately, I happened to be a lot in hospitals at the time this project came up because of deteriorating health in my family. I completely tapped into that to prepare for Waiting . Besides this, I’ve also completed a crowd-funded project titled Mantra ; it’s about India in the 90s how MNCs affected small businesses.
What about theatre?
I’m currently directing a play called The Living Room that I’ve written. We’ve opened in Bangalore and are going to Jaipur and Delhi soon.
You balance films and theatre comfortably though the two worlds are quite different…
Rehearsal is vital for the stage; you have to make the character part of the body. You cannot go on stage and think. Films, on the other hand, present a different set of challenges… when the camera is two inches away from your eyes, you cannot hide. Movies require a certain mental discipline, while theatre demands more of a physical discipline.
A lot of heroines from Bollywood are looking to the south. Why aren’t you here yet?
You tell me! Everyone knows I speak Tamil… I’m just waiting for that wonderful director to show up with an amazing script.
You like to call yourself a feminist. What is your description of the modern-day feminist?
A feminist is just someone who believes women are humans too. We live in a country where some people still think women are property. That has to change. Financially, women aren’t earning the same as men for the same job… that has to change. But most importantly, women need basic safety; that’s the need of the hour. That doesn’t come just with infrastructure and government regulations — it stems from education. If we’re separating boys and girls at a young age, they do not know how to behave with each other when they grow up.
Your equation with Anurag Kashyap post-divorce? You both keep talking highly about each other in public….
It’s peaceful. We get along well. We’ve shared a lot together and we respect each other… that will not change.
