If our audience matures, our cinema will mature too: Kalki Koechlin

After a hearty lunch of luchi and bhetki maachher paturi, Kalki Koechlin — a self-confessed foodie — welcomed us to her suite at a city five star. “Normally, I eat more. But today, I was in a rush,” she said, adding, “I also wish to buy a few gondhoraj lebu before leaving Kolkata.” She was in town on Wednesday to perform a monologue at an event, The Power of She, hosted by the Kolkata chapter of FICCI Flo. From the changing portrayal of women in Bollywood to the outcomes of the #MeToo movement and handling social media trolls — the feisty Bollywood actress poured her heart out to us in an interview. Excerpts…

You’ve been fairly vocal about the #MeToo movement. Do you see any change post the uproar? Or is it just another urban movement in India?
It is an urban movement because it unfolded on social media. But I don’t think it is restricted to just that. Even the small amount of change that I’ve seen is quite encouraging. For example, I did a play shortly after the #MeToo movement last year and they handed me a code of conduct contract. It basically has a list of the rules of behaviour while rehearsing. It says whom you can speak to if you are feeling uncomfortable.
It was a Shakespeare play, Lucrece (The Rape of Lucrece), which is about a woman who is raped by the king’s son. It is a true story and the woman spoke up about it. I think it was among the first #MeToo cases the world saw. The king’s entire family was exiled after that. Obviously, the play requires a certain amount of intimacy. So, we had this ritual of asking each other for consent during the rehearsals. Even while working in films and web series these days, intimacy scenes are choreographed like any other action scene. Like you don’t suddenly punch someone on the face. Similarly, you can’t enact a kissing scene without knowing exactly what the other person is going to do. This is the kind of awareness I’m starting to see at my workplace. Only time will tell what long-term difference the movement is going to make. I think the more we talk about it, the more aware we’ll become.

There was a time when you used to be very vocal about social media trolls. Your short film, Naked, also talks about trolls…
Earlier, I used to be a lot more vulnerable and trolls used to get to me. But now I’ve learnt to let it go. You can’t be taking everyone’s moment of anger personally. That person doesn’t know you or your body of work. My life will continue with or without social media. Someone praising or insulting me on Twitter doesn’t affect me, as I have my family and other things to go back to. Your life can’t revolve around social media. Sometimes I just write to some of them — ‘Why don’t we have a cup of coffee over this issue? You don’t have to be angry all the time’ (laughs).

You’ve spent a decade in Bollywood. How have you seen the industry treating its women artistes over this period?
Stereotyping of women is obvious in Bollywood. Many times, we see content that show women in just one shade — either she is perfect and beautiful, or she is crooked. There weren’t many nuanced characters in commercial cinema before. But that’s changing now with films like

Piku

, Queen,

Neerja

and so on. I think that kind of realism is what we need and it is happening now, thanks to more women writers and directors. I think this is a very encouraging time to be in Bollywood. Not that I was looking to work with only women directors but it has surprisingly turned out to be so for me — Koko (Konkona Sensharma), Shonali (Bose), Anu Menon, Zoya (Akhtar) and so on. I remember when I was doing Margarita With A Straw, someone asked me, ‘Hero kaun hai isme?’. And I was like, ‘Main hoon hero’ (laughs). This is the kind of change that is happening now — a woman can also be the hero of a film. But, having said that, it’s not just about Bollywood alone. It is the mirror of the society we live in. There are people who are paying to watch that content. We need to stop that. If our audience matures, our cinema will mature too.

You have always been someone who likes to voice her opinion. Does that affect your work in any way?
I don’t know if that affects the work I do because I am not your typical commercial heroine. That’s also a choice that I’ve made. I want to do a certain kind of meaty role, I want to write and I want to perform on stage rather than just get paid for a gig. I can’t really complain because I chose to be this way.

You don’t exactly fit into the idea of a typical Bollywood beauty and yet you’ve been part of several commercially successful ventures. How has the journey been?
I was subjected to a different treatment in India even while I was growing up. When my friends and I would go to the Kovalam beach in Kerala, I was the one the charaswala would approach. ‘Arre godi ladki toh drugs le legi na (laughs)’ — they would say. The boys would hit on me and not my Indian girlfriends. So, that frustration was there since my early age. I used to talk back in Tamil and yell at them (laughs). We do stereotype people based on how they look and who they are. But you can’t be a victim of stereotyping. We all belong to different backgrounds and some people may see it as limitations. The only way to prove them wrong is to show them what you are capable of.

Actor, writer, stage performer — which role is the closest to your heart?
People are still confused about who I am and what I do (laughs). My managers say, ‘We can’t manage you’. Normally, you market somebody in a certain way but I don’t have a specific image. I am sometimes commercial, sometimes independent, sometimes on stage, podcast and so on (laughs). And my managers are like, ‘We’ll just manage your contracts and you do what you want to do’. I just wish to keep evolving and express myself in different ways. For me, theatre is like an anchor. It is the place where I really get to rehearse my skills — voice, body spontaneity et al. It is like
going to the gym. It keeps my acting muscles in check.

Do you think the idea of beauty in Bollywood is changing with time?
Yes, the parameters of beauty are constantly changing. There was a time when voluptuous women were considered beautiful. Today, it’s all about size zero. These parameters are created by the market. Some person sitting somewhere is deciding what is attractive and we are buying that. As an actor, you have to break those commercial ideas. Beauty is not about being skinny or voluptuous. It has many forms and we should learn to appreciate those. Also, age is another factor. I remember Neena Gupta once put up a post online asking for a good role. So, an actor of her stature having to struggle for roles because of her age is a bad thing. The good thing is films like Badhaai Ho are trying to break those patterns.

You also have a strong Kolkata connection. Don’t you?
I have two very close friends here. One is Chitrangada Chakroborty, who is Ritabhari’s sister. I know their family. And then there’s Avantika Ganguly. She is an actor and we did Colour Blind together. And of course, I know Sabya (Sabyasachi Mukherji, designer) very well. Though I have done many plays in Kolkata, I’ve never worked for a film here. I am surely open to it if an opportunity comes my way (laughs).