Kalki Koechlin - A Dependable Star Who's Happy To Go With The Flow

A decade in hindi films has delivered Kalki Koechlin from restless artiste searching for her place in the industry, to a dependable star who’s happy to go with the flow, finds Rajeev Masand.

- Rajeev Masand

It isn’t hard to spot Kalki Koechlin from a distance; not with that pixie haircut which shaves at least five years off her age. She’s a good 10 minutes early for our appointment at a café in Versova that she’s picked out because it’s pet-friendly. Except that they won’t allow her into the inside (air-conditioned) portion of the establishment with Kiara, her gorgeous Persian Greyhound, a gentle giant who isn’t likely to hurt a fly. “So you’re not pet-friendly then?” Kalki asks the owner calmly. On being told that the rule is such on account of patrons that aren’t comfortable with pets around them while they eat, she asks again, although she’s really only making a point: “Oh, so you’re only part pet-friendly?”

We settle at a table outside, in the non-air-conditioned part of the café, where Kalki lays out Kiara’s rug (“It’s from Morocco; she’s a Bedouin dog”) and orders her a boiled egg before we dive into a chat about her life and work.

Rajeev Masand: Kalki, you’ve said on many occasions that your “skin is white and heart is brown”. Did you struggle with your identity while growing up?

Kalki Koechlin: I have early memories of playing with my Tamilian friends and not feeling like I was an outsider. I went to an international school, Hebron, in Ooty, so I felt quite at home there. But I do have some memories, like when we would go to Kovalam beach on a holiday when I was a teenager. My Indian friends were there, but only I would get asked for drugs...(laughs)

RM: You’ve worked with Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, and Alia Bhatt, but your life and career choices are so different from theirs. Has the ‘A-lister’s’ journey ever seemed attractive to you?