Fresh-faced and spontaneous, Kalki Koechlin is known for bringing a certain degree of panache to her roles, unconventional as they are.
Born to French parents, the Indian actress says the more successful you are the more criticism you face. “The amount of criticism you get is directly proportional to how successful you are, especially as a woman,” Koechlin stated recently. Asked about her views on the brickbats faced by Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra, the Dev D star lauded them for handling criticism sensibly. “I think they should be very proud of themselves. I have seen Deepika grow so much since she first came in the industry and Priyanka is just killing it all over the world,” Kalki responded.
When it comes to herself, the vivacious National Award winner prefers to “ignore” internet criticism but takes note of remarks from her loved ones. “Internet criticism… I don’t handle it, I ignore it. I don’t respond. If I am getting criticised I go off social media for a while,” shared Kalki. “What’s important for me is criticism from family and friends… they know that you have certain weaknesses. They know you.”
Kalki is currently riding high on the rave reviews garnered by her latest outing A Death in The Gunj. Asked if she has any Hollywood dreams too, the actor said, “If Steven Spielberg calls me, then I would not be checking my calendar.”
But for her, the transition has to be organic. “I am not going to drop everything to try and have a career there. I think it has to happen organically. So if a good opportunity came by, why not?” Kalki said.
Kalki, also a writer, believes a good theatre actor is not necessarily good in films. “You can’t do the same thing for both. If you are a good theatre actor, it doesn’t mean you are a good film actor and vice versa,” she explained. “There are very different methods of acting. In theatre, you are reaching out to the last person in the audience, while film is much more real… the camera is right there (in front of you).”