KOEL PURIE

HELLO! JET-SETS TO PARIS FOR A RENDEZVOUS WITH THE ACTOR AND TELEVISION HOST, AS SHE GEARS UP FOR THE RELEASE OF HER FIRST WORK IN FICTION AS WELL HER NEW ROLE IN ZOYA AKTHAR’S THE ARCHIES

- NAYARE ALI

Koel Purie’s laughter is infectious. It’s deep and hearty, just like the joie de vivre with which she lives her life. Perhaps her time in the French capital amplified her self-effacing humour, evident in her peppy Reels on Instagram. An exuberant individual who needs to keep creating to feel fulfilled, Koel’s now riding high on her latest project, English play Mummy’s Dead, Long Live Mummy!, which she wrote, produced and acted in.

“After two shows in March, we surprisingly had so many offers. I should say that with gratitude,” she laughs. “When I started writing this, I didn’t know it’d take the form of a play. I thought it’d be self-help book or one on motherhood.”

“I’ve written for television for years and also wrote a book recently (it’ll be published this summer). But the medium of theatre is so liberating; there are no constraints. One minute you are talking to God and the next, you’re playing table tennis. There are no rules. The play just wrote itself !”

Koel, who’s lived in Paris for the past five years, acted in her first English play in the city, Truth, Lies and Deception, in 2021.

“It was a mega success as there’s a large anglophone audience desperate for such entertainment. There’s this whole world that needs to be tapped into; there are people hungry for culture that relates to them and is in English. I’m doing a lot of television in France, creating and developing a lot of co-productions. Like Le Syndrome Indien for White Lion Films.”

While her choices may be limited in French cinema, the universe appears to be throwing interesting opportunities her way. Koel will soon be seen in Zoya Akthar’s adaptation of The Archies comics, in which she plays Alice Cooper.