Person attributes
Kalki Koechlin (/ˈkʌlki keɪˈklæ̃/ (audio speaker iconlisten); born 10 January 1982) is a French actress and writer who works in Hindi films. Known for her unconventional body of work, she is the recipient of such accolades as a National Film Award, a Filmfare Award, and two Screen Awards. Although a French citizen, she has been brought up and lived most of her life in India.
Born in Pondicherry, India, Koechlin was drawn to theatre from a young age. She studied drama at Goldsmiths, University of London, and worked simultaneously with a local theatre company. After returning to India, she made her screen debut as Chanda in the drama Dev.D in 2009, and won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. Subsequently, she starred in two of the highest-grossing Hindi films of their respective release years–the romantic comedy dramas Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), both of which garnered her Best Supporting Actress nominations at Filmfare. Koechlin expanded her career into screenwriting with the 2011 crime thriller That Girl in Yellow Boots, in which she also played the lead role.
Koechlin's continued association with such commercial films as the supernatural thriller Ek Thi Daayan (2013) and the musical drama Gully Boy (2019) sustained her success, as she continued to draw praise for her performances in independent films, including the comedy drama Waiting (2015) and the slice of life film Ribbon (2017). She won further acclaim and a National Film Award for her role of a young woman with cerebral palsy in the coming-of-age drama Margarita with a Straw (2014). Beginning in late 2010s, Koechlin made a transition to web content and appeared in a spate of successful web series. She drew particular praise for her portrayal of a lonely socialite in Amazon Prime Video's Made in Heaven and a self-styled godwoman in Netflix's Sacred Games (both 2019).
Koechlin has written, produced, and acted in several stage productions. She co-wrote the drama Skeleton Woman (2009), which won her The MetroPlus Playwright Award, and made her directorial debut on stage with the tragicomedy Living Room (2015). Koechlin is also an activist and promotes various causes ranging from health and education to women empowerment and gender equality.
Early life and background
See also: Koechlin family
Kalki Koechlin was born in Pondicherry, India,[1] on 10 January 1982[2] to French parents, Joël Koechlin and Françoise Armandie, who came to India from Angers, France.[1] She is a descendant of Maurice Koechlin, a French structural engineer who played an important role in the design and construction of the Eiffel Tower.[3] Koechlin's parents are devotees of Sri Aurobindo, and she spent a significant amount of her early childhood in Auroville.[1][4] The family later settled in Kallatty, a village near Ooty in Tamil Nadu, where Koechlin's father established a business designing hang-gliders and ultralight aircraft
Koechlin was brought up in a strict environment in Ooty where she spoke English, Tamil, and French.[6][7] Her parents divorced when she was fifteen; her father moved to Bangalore and remarried, while Koechlin continued living with her mother. She has described the time that she spent at Kalatty between the ages of 5 and 8, before her parents' divorce, as her "happiest". Koechlin has a half-brother from her mother's previous marriage, and a half-brother from her father's subsequent marriage Koechlin studied at Hebron School, a boarding school in Ooty, where she was involved in acting and writing. She has admitted to being shy and quiet as a child.[9] Koechlin aspired to study psychiatry and become a criminal psychologist. After completing her schooling at the age of 18, she moved to London and studied drama and theatre at Goldsmiths, University of London. There, she worked for two years with the theatre company Theatre of Relativity, writing The Rise of the Wild Hunt and performing in plays such as David Hare's The Blue Room and Marivaux's The Dispute. She worked as a waitress on weekends
After completing her studies, Koechlin moved back to India and lived with her maternal half-brother in Bangalore. Unable to find work there, she moved to Mumbai, where she worked with theatre directors and with Atul Kumar and Ajay Krishnan, the founders of a Mumbai-based theatre company called "The Company Theatre". They were looking for actors for a theatrical festival, Contacting the World, to be held in Liverpool
Early work (2009–2010) Koechlin played a supporting role in the black comedy The Film Emotional Atyachar, her only film appearance of 2010. Co-starring Ranvir Shorey, Mohit Ahlawat, Abhimanyu Singh, Vinay Pathak, and Ravi Kishan, the production opened to mixed reviews. Her performance as Sophie, a manipulative woman who is abducted by two corrupt policemen, garnered mixed reviews from critics. Komal Nahta of Koimoi labeled her performance as average, while Blessyy Chettiar of Daily News and Analysis felt that she was underused. Koechlin had committed to star in I am Afia, one of the four short films of Onir's anthology I Am, but it went into production with a modified plot for the segment.[26] In an interview with The Telegraph Onir said, "as we discussed the subject more and more, both Kalki and me felt that the narrative was becoming too hurried in the 25-minute limit".[26] Koechlin, who was to play the role of an NGO worker in the film was ultimately replaced by Nandita Das, after the change of plot.
Breakthrough and commercial success (2011–2014)
After facing some early struggle for film roles, Koechlin had four releases in 2011, garnering widespread recognition for her performances in them. The first was Bejoy Nambiar's Shaitan, a crime-thriller with an ensemble cast that included Koechlin, Rajeev Khandelwal, Gulshan Devaiya, Shiv Panditt, Neil Bhoopalam, and Kirti Kulhari. She played the role of a disturbed teenager and called it an exhausting experience, saying that she felt drained while trying to, "get into a psyche of someone who does a lot of drugs and booze, has lost her mind a little bit and is very vulnerable".[29] While the character was inconsistently described by film critics as "nightmarish" and "engaging", Koechlin was praised for her performance, with Raja Sen calling her "an increasingly striking actress". Upon release, the film received positive reviews from critics, and earned Koechlin a Screen Award for Best Actress nomination.