Kalki Koechlin born 10 January 1984) is an Indian-born French actress and writer, who lives and

works in India. Known for her unconventional body of work in the Hindi film industry, she is the
recipient of such accolades as a National Film Award, a Filmfare, and two Screen Awards. Koechlin
was conferred with the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture for
her contributions to cinema.
Born in Pondicherry, India, to French parents, 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 a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting
Actress. Subsequently, she starred in two of the highest-grossing films
of their respective release years–the comedy dramas Zindagi Na Milegi
Dobara (2011) and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), both of which
garnered her Best Supporting Actress nominations at the Filmfare
Awards. 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
political drama Shanghai (2012) and the supernatural thriller Ek Thi
Daayan (2013) sustained her success, as she continued to draw praise
for her performances in independent films, including the comedy
drama Waiting (2015) and the thriller A Death in the Gunj (2016). She
won a National Film Award – Special Jury Award for her performance as
a young woman with cerebral palsy in the coming of age
drama Margarita with a Straw (2014). Koechlin also uses YouTube as a
platform or forum for issues for which she advocates, appearing in
videos including AIB's It's Your Fault, Culture Machine's Printing
Machine and Noise and Y-Films's web-series entitled Man's World.
Outside film, Koechlin has written, produced, and acted in several stage
plays. 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). She hosted a travel
show entitled Kalki's Great Escape, which premiered on Fox Life in
September 2016. Koechlin is also an activist and promotes various
causes ranging from health and education to women empowerment and
gender equality.

Contents

 1Early life and background

 2Film career
o 2.1Debut and early roles (2009–10)
o 2.2Rise to prominence (2011–2014)
o 2.3Critical acclaim (2015–present)
 2.3.1Upcoming projects
 3Other works
o 3.1Stage career
o 3.2Philanthropy
o 3.3Performance poetry and voice acting
 4Personal life
 5Media image
 6Filmography
 7Accolades
 8References
 9External links

Early life and background[edit]

Main article: Koechlin family
Kalki Koechlin was born in Pondicherry, India, on 10 January 1984
to French parents, Joel Koechlin and Françoise Armandie, who came to
India from Angers, France.[1][2] 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.[2][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.[3][5]

Koechlin with her mother Françoise Armandie in 2016

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.[6] She has described the time
that she spent at Kalatty between the ages of 5 and 8, before her
parents' divorce, as her "happiest".[8] Koechlin has a half-brother from
her mother's previous marriage, and a half-brother from her father's
subsequent marriage.[6]
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.[10] 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.[6][11] She worked as a waitress on
weekends.[5]
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.[2][12]

Film career[edit]
Debut and early roles (2009–10)[edit]
After moving to Mumbai, Koechlin auditioned for Anurag
Kashyap's Dev.D (2009), a modern-day adaptation of Sarat Chandra
Chattopadhyay's 1917 Bengali novel Devdas.[13] In the film, Koechlin
plays the role of Leni, a young woman who turns to prostitution after a
leaked sex tape scandal. The character was based on Chandramukhi, a
pivotal character in the novel, a prostitute who fell in love with the titular
character.[14] Kashyap initially rejected Koechlin as she was not Indian,
and did not match his visualisation of the character. But he changed his
mind and offered her the role after seeing her audition tape.[15] The film
met with generally positive reviews and was a box office
success.[16][17] Koechlin garnered praise and a Filmfare Award for Best
Supporting Actress for her performance, which was described as
"imbued [...] with a touching fragility"[18] and "astonishingly
[appropriate]".[19][20] Others were more impressed by her character's
complexity, but thought of Koechlin's performance in the film's first half
as amateurish.[21][22]
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.[23] Her
performance as Sophie, a manipulative woman who is abducted by two
corrupt policemen, garnered mixed reviews from critics.[24] Komal
Nahta of Koimoi labeled her performance as average, while Blessyy
Chettiar of Daily News and Analysis felt that she was
underused.[24][25] 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.[26][27]
Rise to prominence (2011–2014)[edit]
After facing some early struggle for film roles, Koechlin had four
releases in 2011, garnering widespread recognition for her
performances in them.[5] The first was Bejoy Nambiar's Shaitan, a crime-
thriller with an ensemble cast that included Koechlin, Rajeev
Khandelwal, Gulshan Devaiya, Shiv Pandit, Neil Bhoopalam, and Kirti
Kulhari.[28] 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 "a nightmare" and "engaging",
Koechlin was unanimously praised for her performance, with Raja
Sen calling her "an increasingly striking actress".[30][31] Upon release the
film received positive reviews from critics, and Koechlin was nominated
for the Best Actress Award at the Star Screen Awards.[32]

Koechlin at a 2011 press conference for Zindagi Na Milegi

Dobara at Chandigarh

Koechlin then starred in Zoya Akhtar's coming-of-age comedy Zindagi

Na Milegi Dobara. Akhtar had expressed her wish to work with Koechlin
in a prior interview with NDTV, having seen her in Dev.D and the then-
unreleased That Girl in Yellow Boots.[33][34] She played the role of
Natasha, a South Bombay girl who works as an interior designer.
Koechlin, who took diction classes for the role which required her to
speak accented Hindi, revealed that she was keen to do the film
because her work in such projects as Dev.D and Shaitan had led her to
being typecast in dark roles of prostitutes, troubled teenagers, and
misfits.[2][35] With the worldwide collections of ₹1.53
billion (US$21 million), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was a blockbuster hit
and became, at the time, the ninth highest-grossing Bollywood film of all
time.[36] Koechlin's performance was well received by critics. Gaurav
Malani of The Times of India deemed her "excellent", and Raja Sen in
his review for Rediff.com noted her as "histrionically strong enough to
manage varied roles".[37][38] Koechlin also received her second Filmfare
Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role.[39]
Koechlin expanded her career into screenwriting with Anurag Kashyap's
2011 thriller That Girl in Yellow Boots. She said that Kashyap asked her
to write the script for the film as he was looking for a woman's
perspective for the story.[2] Co-starring with Naseeruddin Shah, the film
had her play a British woman name Ruth, who travels to Mumbai in
search of her biological father. The role was partially based on her own
experience as a 'white-girl' in India.[40] Shot in a short duration of thirteen
days, the film was screened at the 2010 Toronto International Film
Festival and the 67th Venice International Film Festival, among other
venues.[41][42] It opened to critical acclaim, with Koechlin being widely
praised for her performance. Giving the film three-and-a-half stars out of
four, Roger Ebert wrote that Koechlin "creates a memorable woman
who is sad and old beyond her years".[43] Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com
described Koechlin as "unrestrained and uncorrupted".[44] NDTV film
critic Saibal Chatterjee also lauded the film and deemed her
performance as "absolute perfection".[45] Koechlin's final release of the
year was the Sanjay Leela Bhansali-produced comedy My Friend
Pinto.[46] She played the role of an aspiring dancer in the film.[47][48]
Koechlin was cast opposite Emraan Hashmi and Abhay Deol (her third
collaboration with Deol) for Dibakar Banerjee's political-thriller Shanghai.
The film, which was based on the Greek writer Vassilis Vassilikos's
1967 novel Z (made into a movie of the same name), premiered at
the 2012 Toronto Film Festival.[49] Koechlin found the role of a political
activist, which she described as vulnerable and awkward to be
challenging. She said that the character was, "someone who is not an
accepted person [...] an outsider".[50][51][52] Shanghai received positive
reviews from critics,[5] and was a surprise hit at the box-office grossing
over ₹355 million (US$4.9 million) worldwide.[53][54] Koechlin garnered a
mixed response for her performance in the film. While Russell Edwards
noted the "biting edge" she brought to the role, Aniruddha Guha thought
of her as the "weakest link" in the film.[55][56]
Koechlin's continued association with commercial films sustained her
success as seen, in varying degrees, with both of her 2013 releases,
the supernatural thriller Ek Thi Daayan and the comedy drama Yeh
Jawaani Hai Deewani. The former was based on Mobius Trips, a short
story written by Mukul Sharma, the father of Konkona Sen Sharma, who
also starred in the film.[57] Koechlin's role was that of Lisa Dutt, a
Canada-based music teacher who is suspected of practising witchcraft.
For her role in the film, Koechlin learned to play the guitar, and lip
synced "Yaaram", one of the film's track.[58] On its release, the film
received mixed to positive reviews from critics and had a decent run at
box-office, grossing over ₹402 million (US$5.6 million).[59][60][61] Praising
Koechlin in her review for the film, critic Anupama Chopra remarked that
she was, "an interesting actor but the film doesn't know what to do with
her".[62]

Koechlin at a promotional event for Nokia Lumia

Koechlin then went on to star in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, co-
starring Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur. She
played the role of tomboy, Aditi Mehra. Koechlin, who was nursing her
hospitalised mother and simultaneously filming for the project called it a
"really tough time".[6] Nonetheless, she described her time on the film
sets as "fun", and developed a close friendship with
Padukone.[63][64][65] The film emerged as one of the highest-grossing
Bollywood films with earnings of ₹3.02
billion (US$42 million).[66][67][68] Koechlin was lauded for her performance
and comic timing, with CNN-News18's Rajeev Masand writing,
"Koechlin invests heart and spunkiness to the part".[69][70] She earned her
third Filmfare Best Supporting Actress nomination.[71]
Later in 2013, Koechlin appeared in a video entitled It's Your Fault,
along with VJ Juhi Pandey. Dealing with the issue of sexual assaults on
women, the video mocks the mindset that blames women for provoking
rapes.[72] It was created by All India Bakchod, and was released on
their YouTube channel. It's Your Fault went viral, with over 150,000
views in two days.[73] Koechlin's sole release in 2014 was Saif Ali
Khan's Happy Ending, where she plays a comic role of a girl obsessed
with Khan's character. She credited her performance in Yeh Jawani Hai
Deewani for landing her the role. She said that people noticed her comic
timing in the film, and that worked in her favour.[74] The film, which
Koechlin described as "spoof on our film industry and on all the romantic
comedies", opened to mixed reviews and was a box-office
failure.[75][76] Despite the film's mixed reception she garnered praise for
her performance. Saurabh Dwivedi of India Today wrote that "Koechlin
steals the show with her perfect portrayal of a nagging girlfriend", and
Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times noted that, although her character in the
film felt a bit forced, she delivered a "charming" performance.[77][78]
Critical acclaim (2015–present)[edit]
Koechlin starred in Shonali Bose's drama Margarita with a Straw,
playing Laila, a young woman with cerebral palsy who leaves her home
in India to study in New York City, unexpectedly falls in love, and
embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Her character was inspired
by Malini Chib, Bose's cousin.[79] Bose first approached Koechlin, who
she said was her "first and only choice", for the role when the latter was
shooting for Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewaani.[80] Due to the clashing
schedule Bose went on to audition other actresses to substitute
Koechlin, but felt that "something was missing" in each one, and she
eventually decided to push the filming for three months to accommodate
her.[81] In an interview with the Times of India, Koechlin acknowledged
that the role was the most challenging of her film career, and she took
six months off her filming schedule to prepare for it.[82][83] She underwent
a six-week training workshop with actor Adil Hussain. The workshop
aimed at making her "body language seem natural", while also focusing
on the speech pattern of patients with cerebral palsy.[84] Koechlin spent
considerable time with Chib and her physiotherapist and speech
therapist. She also attended a month-long workshop in Delhi, where she
worked on the movement of the body parts.[85] Although the film covers
aspects of physical disability, Koechlin dubbed it "a romcom with some
hurdles".[85]
Margarita with a Straw premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film
Festival, and was also screened at Tallinn Black Nights Film
Festival, BFI London Film Festival, 19th Busan International Film
Festival, and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.[79] The film
garnered positive reviews,[86] and Koechlin widespread attention and
universal acclaim for her portrayal of a disabled person.[87] While Leslie
Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter made a detailed note of her
"bravura performance in both physical and emotional terms", NDTV film
critic Saibal Chatterjee straightforwardly deemed her "absolutely
brilliant".[88][89] Firstpost's Deepanjana Pal ascribed her screen appeal to
her lack of acting pretense, and wrote "[Koechlin] has done a good job
of miming the physicality [...] but what is truly remarkable is the lack of
artifice in her expressions".[90] John Beifuss compared her performance
to Eddie Redmayne's act as Stephen Hawking in the biographical
drama, The Theory of Everything, in his review for The Commercial
Appeal. He gave Koechlin the highest praise writing that her
performance would have attracted Academy Award notice in a major
film studio production.[91] The view was echoed by Variety critic Guy
Lodge, who was particularly impressed by her range.[92] Koechlin won
several accolades for the film, including the Best Actress Award at the
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, the Screen Award for Best Actress,
and the Jury Award at the 63rd National Film Awards.[93][94][95] Additionally,
she had garnered nominations for Best Actress at the Seattle
International Film Festival and the Asian Film Awards.[96][97]
Koechlin appeared alongside Parineeti Chopra, Richa Chadda,
and Bhumi Pednekar in Y-Films's mini web-series Man's World, a satire
on gender roles.[98] The series was released on YouTube in April
2015.[99][100] She then starred in Anu Menon's Waiting, an independent
film about the relationship between two people who befriend each other
in a hospital, while nursing their respective comatose
spouses.[101] Koechlin played the role of Tara Deshpande, a young and
brash social media-savvy.[102] She dyed her hair black for the role, as
Menon wanted her to look more "earthy".[103] The film had its world
premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) in December
2015, and had its theatrical release in India on 27 May
2016.[104][105][106] The film and her performance received positive critical
reviews.[107] Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com called the film "absolutely
riveting", and also lauded the "stunningly unhindered" Koechlin writing
that she used her aura, "in the most mesmeric fashion to create a
woman we sympathise with and wish well for".[108] Film critic Kunal Guha
thought that film belonged to Koechlin who, "impresses by managing to
wordlessly convey her character's state of mind in every scene".[109]
Koechlin appeared in two documentary films in 2016—Freedom
Matters, a project aimed at spreading awareness on human trafficking,
and Living Shakespeare, a BBC production where she drew parallels
between Ophelia and Indian women.[110][111] She was invited to be a part
of the jury presided by Hungarian director Béla Tarr, at the
2016 Marrakech International Film Festival.[112][113] The 18th Mumbai Film
Festival saw the release of two of Koechlin's films—the widely praised A
Death in the Gunj and the panned Mantra. In the former, she played
Mimi, a Kolkata-based Anglo-Indian woman, who seduces a younger
disturbed teenager.[114] To prepare for the role, she attended an acting
workshop conducted by the film's casting director, Atul Mongia, and also
learnt an Anglo-Indian accent.[114][115][116] She thought of it unlike anything
that she had done before, calling it "a very sexual, beautiful
character".[117] The release for A Death in the Gunj was delayed on
multiple occasions due to varying reasons.[118] Critics, who were
appreciative of Koechlin's performance, variously called her "ever
dependable" and "perfect fit".[119][120][121]
Both Mantra and A Death in the Gunj released theatrically in the first
half of 2017–in the months of March and June
respectively.[122][123] Koechlin's following release, the delayed road film Jia
aur Jia co-starring Richa Chaddha, focused on two strangers of the
same name who embark on a road trip together.[124] Directed by Howard
Rosemeyer in his debut, the film was released on 27 October.[125] Such
critics as Sweta Kaushal of Hindustan Times and Anna M. M.
Vetticad of Firstpost singled out Koechlin's performance for praise while
giving negative reviews to the film.[126][127] Her final release of the
year Ribbon opened to positive response from film critics.[128] Directed by
Rakhee Sandilya, the film follows the life of a couple living in Mumbai
and the problems that they face with an unplanned pregnancy. Koechlin
played Sahana, a sales executive who faces discrimination at the work
place; it was variously regarded as the most mature performance of her
film career by commentators.[129][130][131]
Koechlin played a French immigrant in Siddharth Sinha's short film The
Job. Produced by Kushal Shrivastava, the production was a
psychological thriller that was meant to be a critique of the corporate
sector and its treatment of employees.[132] Her performance attracted
praise with writers ascribing the film's appeal to her persuasive
performance.[132] Koechlin was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters by
the French government; Alexandre Ziegler, the Ambassador of France
to India is to formally present the award to her on June, 23.[133]
In 2019, Koechlin had a supporting role in Gully Boy which
starred Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt. The film emerged as a critical
and commercial success grossing over ₹222 crore (US$31 million)
against production budget of ₹40 crore (US$5.6 million).
Upcoming projects[edit]
Koechlin will feature, alongside Ali Fazal and Gulshan Devaiah, in Soni
Razdan's Love Affair, a fictionalised version of the 1959 Nanavati
murder case.[134] Koechlin is also filming for Pakistani director Sabiha
Sumar on a documentary entitled Azmaish – Trials of Life, for which she
visited Karachi, Lahore and Skardu to observe the Pakistani culture of
the provinces Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[135] She has also
committed to star in Shahnawaz NK's bilingual
film CandyFlip opposite Prakash Raj and Gulshan Devaiah.[136]

Other works[edit]
Stage career[edit]
 Koechlin at the Mumbai Drama School

Koechlin has been associated with theatre from a young age. As a child,
she attended theatre workshops in Pondicherry.[12] Her mother was
adamant that she complete her studies before venturing into an acting
career, sending her to London to study drama and theatre.[12] During her
years in the film industry, Koechlin has continued to participate in
theatrical productions. She has written, produced, and acted in several
stage plays in India.[137] In a 2014 interview with Verve she said, "Theater
is really an actor's playground [...] There's nothing like performing for a
live audience".[138] Koechlin founded her own theater production
company, Little Productions in June 2015.[139]
Koechlin won The Hindu's 2009 The MetroPlus Playwright Award along
with Prashant Prakash for the play Skeleton Woman which they co-
wrote,[140] directed by Nayantara Kotian. The play is a modern adaptation
of an Inuit folk tale about a writer; Koechlin played the protagonist's wife.
It premiered at the Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai.[141] Asmit Pathare of Mumbai
Theatre Guide in his review wrote: "The actors being the playwrights
themselves, seemed to know what they were doing".[142] She also co-
wrote Colour Blind, a play that attempts to rediscover different aspects
of the personality of Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore through his life
and writings. In dual roles, Koechlin plays the Argentine writer and
intellectual Victoria Ocampo (a close associate of Tagore), and a young
woman who is writing a research paper on him.[143] Aditi Sharma of
Mumbai Theatre Guide calling Koechlin the "star or the play" noted that
she "really put in an effort to build her character and it
shows".[144] Koechlin's other early stage appearances include Atul
Kumar's Trivial Disasters, The Real Inspector Hound, Ajay
Krishnan's Hair, where she plays Rapunzel, and Kapoor's Hamlet, The
Clown Prince.[137]
Koechlin made her directorial debut on stage with the 2015 play Living
Room.[145] Development of the play began in 2014, when Koechlin wrote
a four-page conversation between Death and an old woman who is in a
strange surreal space, about to die but unwilling to exit the world. She
further worked on the script of the play in 2015. In a 2016 interview
with Mumbai Mirror she said, "Last year, when I was unemployed for six
months, I started fleshing out the story. It turned into a comedy on life
and death".[146] The play was staged at the Ranga Shankara
Hall, Bangalore, on 24 July 2015.[147][148] Koechlin also worked in Rajat
Kapoor's What's Done, Is Done, an adaptation of Shakespeare's
tragedy Macbeth.[149] She played Lady Macbeth and doubled up as one
of the witches for the play.[150] The first show of the play was staged on 5
June 2016 in Mumbai.[151]
Philanthropy[edit]
Koechlin identifies herself as a feminist and extensively campaigns for
the cause of gender equality.[152][153] She wrote an article on gender pay-
gap for 22 August 2014 issue of Forbes India,[154] and is vocal in her
support for the issue: "Equal pay won't happen because there is a hero-
based industry [...] need to strive for scripts that empower women, make
women our heroes, too."[155] Koechlin has presented several monologues
aimed at spreading public awareness, and has used YouTube as a
platform or forum for issues that she advocates for.[72][156] She appeared
in Puma's "Do You?" advertisement campaign which encouraged
women to, "find their best self". Koechlin, alongside Jacqueline
Fernandez and Sakshi Malik led a group of women at an event,
organised as part of the movement, to break the Guinness World
Record of “Most people to hold the abdominal plank position” for 1
minute.[157] She has been appointed as the ambassador of such
campaigns as Vogue India's "Vogue Empower" and United Colors of
Benetton's "#Unitedbyhalf", initiatives aimed at spreading awareness on
issues of women's safety and gender equality respectively.[158][159]

Koechlin at Puma's "Do You" Campaign

Koechlin was the ambassador for Cottonworld's "Adopt-A-Tree"

initiative, under which the brand provided its customers with viable
seeds and instructions of planting a tree, urging them to give back to the
environment.[160] She endorsed her eco-friendly lifestyle in an interview
with journalist Priyadarshini Nandy, ahead of the 2012 Convention on
Biological Diversity in Hyderabad.[161] She supported the "Your Cartons.
My Classroom" initiative by TERI, Tetra Pak and The Times of India,
which promoted the recycling of empty tetra pak cartons into furniture
for school classrooms.[162] Koechlin starred in a short film, entitled Hawa
Badlo, aimed at spreading awareness on the health concerns of air
pollution.[163] She is also a supporter of animal rights, and appeared in a
2012 PETA advertisement campaign encouraging the adoption of stray
cats and dogs.[164]
Koechlin advocates for the LGBT rights, and has featured in such video
campaigns as Jagatjit Industries's IICE Vodka advertisement "Kinki
Chilli". Directed by Shiven Surendranath, the video emphasised on an
individual's freedom to choose their sexual identity.[165] Koechlin
expressed her support to LGBT community in an International Women's
Day interview with The Huffington Post saying that education was
essential for developing sensitisation to LGBT rights.[166]Video messages
recorded by Koechlin and Kunal Kapoor, in which they voiced their
support for the LGTBQ community were screened at the 2016 Delhi
International Queer Theater and Film Festival.[167] Koechlin was featured
on the March 2015 cover of Bombay Dost, India's first gay magazine.[168]
Koechlin is also vociferous on a variety of other issues, including health
promotion, education for children in rural areas, and child sexual
abuse among others.[169][155] Koechlin actively participates in the P &
G Shiksha campaign for educating children living in rural parts of
India.[170] She participated in the 2015 Mumbai Marathon, a charitable
event that aimed to spread awareness about issues such as: education,
health issues like cancer and AIDS, and senior citizen
welfare,[171] accompanied by Shonali Bose's cousin Malini
Chib.[172][173] Having gone through sexual abuse at the age of nine,
Koechlin aims to spread awareness around the issue, saying that it was,
"important that parents remove the taboo around the word sex or private
parts so kids can speak openly and be saved from potential
abuse".[174] She also spoke at the All Indian Conference for Child Sexual
Abuse organised by actor Rahul Bose's non-governmental
organisation HEAL.[175]
Performance poetry and voice acting[edit]
Koechlin began writing poetry during her childhood and has
variously performed and recorded self-written poems.[176] A patron
of socially relevant poetry, she performed a solo theatrical monologue
entitled, Wo-Manologue at a December 2016 event organised by
the FICCI Ladies Organisation.[177] She has also sporadically recited An
Intense Piece about the Truths of Womanhood, a soliloquy, on such
events as the International Women's Day special at the India Today
Conclave in March 2014 and the 2016 Kalyani Nagar meeting of the
FICCI Ladies Organisation.[152][178] She recited three separate poems
focusing on consumerism, the contemporary society, and a comic
nursery rhyme at "Spotlight", a poetry slam in Mumbai.[176] Koechlin was
a member of the jury at the 2016 National Youth Poetry Slam, held
in Bangalore.[179]
Koechlin starred in a 2016 video, entitled Printing Machine that talked
about the approach of media and society towards crimes against
women, as a part of Culture Machine's video series "Unblushed".[156] The
five-minute video was released on YouTube and featured a poem
penned and recited by Koechlin.[180][181] The video was well received by
critics and viewers.[182][183][184][185] She also received a letter of appreciation
from Melinda Gates, co-founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for
her contribution to bringing attention to women's issues.[186] The success
of Printing Machine was followed by a second collaborative video for the
Unblushed series, Noise, another original poem which was released on
the company's YouTube channel on 22 June 2017 (World Music
Day).[187][188]
At the SpokenFest 2017, organised by Kommune India, Koechlin
performed a 17-minute act entitled "Fairy Tale". The piece aimed to
highlight the "intrinsically faulty" representation propagated by fairy
tales. She suggested alternative readings that, among other things,
disregarded the notions of a princess "[who] must never displease", a
prince, who "has to be gentle and yet be a man" and interpreted
a witch not as the "antagonist, but [...] as a strong woman
misunderstood by the society". In response to the poem, Ishita
Sengupta of The Indian Express suggested a re-reading of the fairy
tales "in a new light".[189]
Koechlin began working on a podcast for BBC in 2018. Entitled "My
Indian Life", the series had its debut on the streaming networks on 4
August.[190]

Personal life[edit]

Koechlin at the 2014 Lakme Fashion Week

Koechlin married film-maker Anurag Kashyap in April 2011, at her

maternal home in Ooty.[191][192] The two met while filming her debut
film Dev.D.[193] On 13 November 2013 Koechlin and Kashyap issued a
joint statement addressing their separation.[194] On 19 May 2015, they
filed for divorce at a Mumbai family court.[195][196] During the period
between their separation and eventual divorce, the couple went through
marriage counselling.[197]Amidst all the news and speculation
surrounding the separation, Koechlin revealed that she regretted being
so transparent about her personal life, stating in 2012, "It just takes
centre stage instead of your work".[2] Since her divorce, she has rarely
mentioned her personal life in public.[198] Tabloids have often linked her
romantically with other Bollywood stars, but she has strongly denied any
such rumours.[199] Koechlin adopted a rescue catnamed Dosa.[200][201]
After the separation Koechlin discussed her struggles in an interview
with Daily News and Analysis, "Even as an actor, you have days when
you haven't slept enough, you don't feel like you're good enough or
pretty enough ... But ultimately, it's all about attitude. You must live with
a little abandon and not be self-conscious. You ought to stop staring at
yourself in the mirror, and just smile a little!"[202] Having suffered
through racial prejudice in her teenage years and early film career,
when she was stereotyped as a 'white-girl' in India, Koechlin advocates
for an anti-racist ideology.[202] She acknowledged her share of confusion
regarding her identity as a "white-skinned woman growing up in Tamil
Nadu", who had to defend her "Indian-ness" at numerous
occasions.[2] Later in 2012, she said of herself, “My skin is white, but my
heart is brown.”[203] She has a French passport, and stated in an
interview that she chose it over an Indian passport as it is easier to
travel with the former.[204]

Media image[edit]
It's not my job to keep myself in the news. My job is to keep performing. If I
spend time promoting myself or being concerned about my image, I wouldn't
have the energy to do the work that I'm doing.
—Kalki Koechlin, in June 2013[205]

Koechlin has been acknowledged in the media for her unconventional

roles in films and her straightforward personality.[206][207][208] Reviewing her
work in Printing Machine, film critic and journalist Subhash K.
Jha deemed her the "free-thinking actress this industry [Bollywood]
needs".[209] Megha Shah of the GQ called her "someone who can speak
her mind, sound intelligent and also look stunning in a
bikini".[210] Members of the media have subsequently labelled her as a
role model for women across the country.[211] Bhavya Sadhwani,
describing her as "a real life heroine", lauded her for "voicing her
opinions without an iota of inhibition".[212] Another editorial in The
Week stated that with her powerful performances, and by voicing her
opinions, she "has always stayed ahead of her contemporaries in the
industry".[211]

Koechlin at an advertisement shoot in 2013

Following her portrayal of such characters as those in Dev.D, Zindagi

Na Milegi Dobara, Shaitan, and Margarita With a Straw, Koechlin
gained wider recognition and earned the tag of a
"nonconformist".[213] Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent described
 her as a pioneer for the Indian film industry owing to her unconventional
roles and outspoken public presence.[214]Don Groves of Forbes wrote
that she has "managed to subvert stereotypes by playing characters
who are nothing like each other".[215] The columnist and film
critic Vinayak Chakravortycites Koechlin as one of the "new 'new wave'
actors" who has proved her easy screen presence in her short time in
the film industry.[216]
Koechlin is described as a style icon by the Indian media and has been
dubbed as the "queen of experimental fashion".[217][218][219][220] Raedita
Tandan of Filmfare deemed Koechlin's fashion appeal as "effortless"
and "un-diva esque".[220] Such designers and photographers as the slow-
process multimedia artist Riyas Komu and Elle couturier Amit Aggarwal
have described Koechlin's persona as representative of "a sense of
eclecticism" and "fresh, akin to a new wave" respectively.[221][222] Koechlin
has been a part of numerous fashion shows, including the Lakme
Fashion Week, India International Jewellery Week, and Mijwan Fashion
Show (Shabana Azmi's annual fund raiser). She also made a guest
appearance at the Milan Fashion Week, one of the global "Big Four
Fashion Weeks".[223][224][225][226]
Koechlin is particularly known in the Indian media and film industry for
her dedication to her work.[227] Atul Kumar, founder of The Company
Theatre, and her co-star in Hamlet, noted: "[h]er commitment as an
actor is relentless".[227] The director Shonali Bose, while filming Margarita
With a Straw, said Koechlin was able to give perfect long takes for the
film because of the "intense hard work that she put into the preparation
of her role".[227] Her former husband, Anurag Kashyap—who directed her
in three films—believes that she "has grown as an actor since Dev
D.".[227] Rajat Kapoor, in whose Hamlet Koechlin performed as Ophelia,
believes she is an actress who has the "sensitivity and understanding of
filmmaking and theatre".[227]
Koechlin is a celebrity endorser and has been associated with several
brands and services, including: Coca-
Cola, Olay, Vogue, Micromax, Titan, Grey Goose's Style du jour,
and AOC International including the cosmetic giant Oriflame.[228][229][218] In
an interview for Asian News International, Koechlin said that she
"believes that everyone, whether an actor or a model, should endorse a
brand which matches their ideologies".[230] She was also the brand
ambassador of the "Cinema For Care" section, aimed at creating
awareness about disability issues at the All Lights India International
Film Festival (ALIIFF) held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in November
2015.[231]

Filmography[edit]
Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

 Film

Year Title Role Notes

2007 Laaga Chunari Mein Daag Cameo appearance[232]

Filmfare Award for Best Supporting

2009 Dev.D Chandramukhi
Actress

2010 The Film Emotional Atyachar Sophie

2010 That Girl in Yellow Boots Ruth Edscer

Amrita "Amy"
2011 Shaitan
Jayshankar

Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best

2011 Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara Natasha
Supporting Actress

2011 My Friend Pinto Maggie

2011 Trishna Herself Cameo appearance[233]

2012 Shanghai Shalini Sahay

2013 Ek Thi Daayan Lisa Dutt

Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best

2013 Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Aditi Mehra
Supporting Actress

2014 Happy Ending Vishakha

 Film

Year Title Role Notes

National Film Award – Special Jury

2015 Margarita with a Straw Laila
Award

2015 Waiting Tara Deshpande

2015 Un plus une Herself Cameo appearance[234]

2015 Kaash Elsbeth Cameo appearance[235]

2016 Freedom Matters Herself Documentary film

2016 Living Shakespeare Herself BBC Documentary film

2016 A Death in the Gunj Mimi

2016 Mantra Piya Kapoor

2017 Naked Sandy Short film[236]

2017 Jia Aur Jia Jia

2017 Ribbon Sahana Mehra

2017 The Thought of You Short film

2017 Herself Documentary film[237]

Azmaish: A Journey Through the
 Film

Year Title Role Notes

Subcontinent

2018 The Job Short film

2019 Gully Boy Shweta/Sky

2019 CandyFlip Emily

2019 Scholarship Emily Johnson Filming[136]

Television

Year Title Role Notes

2015 Man's World Cameo appearance

2016 Kalki's Great Escape Herself/ Host[238] 8 episodes[239]

2016 Shockers Episode:"Home At Last"[240]

2018 Smoke Tara Main cast; 11 episodes

2019 Made in Heaven Faiza Main cast; 9 episodes