Portraying her strong conviction

She is one of those heroines who forayed into Bollywood in an unconventional manner. With a theatre background, she played the role of a prostitute in her very first movie, Dev D. She then brought in the required oomph for her stage performance in Skeleton Woman.

Kalki Koechlin, who is busy attending a workshop in Mumbai for her next venture, says, “When I picked up the role of Chanda in Dev D, I did it because of the strength of the character, the strength of the script and the opportunity to work with good actors and a great director. As an actor, I feel one should look at the overall story, not at just one character. I would play any role if I thought it was part of a sincere story. And that is the work of an actor, to transform and mould to suit different roles,” says Kalki.

Even before the shoot of Dev D, Kalki remembers being in a fragile state of mind and how she practised speaking Hindi all through the day. “There were two months of Hindi lessons with a tutor before the shoot to get a grasp of the language. Then director Anurag Kashyap gave me books to read and films to watch on characters similar to Chanda. The rest was my effort to understand what it meant for someone to go through the experience,” she explains.

Having seen the effort and the tremendous response from the audience, Kalki says that though she has portrayed Chanda with full conviction, there are a few things she would change.

“When I see the film, I feel that technical elements, such as my diction, or certain expressions could have been improved but that comes with experience and practice,” she adds.

Kalki is also one of those actresses who has been very open and happy about her relationship with her director-boyfriend Anurag Kashyap. “Yes, I feel it is always better to keep things in the open. If I remain honest and open about my life, I have less to answer. When people make false accusations, we have nothing to hide, so we’re happy to be open about our relationship,” she adds.

Having seen the professional and personal side of him, she says, “Anurag as a director is clear minded, determined and very inspiring to work with because he lets the actors bring in their individual potential and is open to improvising. As a real-life partner, he’s kind, honest and loving but unbelievably messy.”

But does this mean Kalki will stick working with only Anurag? “Though I am working on a dark, edgy thriller with Anurag, I am also starting another venture with a new director called Bijoy Nambiar in a film called Shaitan. In that again, I will play an angst teenager,” she says while adding, “I seem to be attracted to roles that show an inner struggle because we live in a world that’s far less perfect and real stories interest me. However, I am also really keen to do a light-hearted comedy, I think, to make people laugh is one of the best feelings, and hope that an offer comes my way soon.”