Kalki Koechlin Kashyap
Kalki at a fashion event held at Mumbai in 2011.
Born	Kalki (1983-01-09) January 9, 1983 (age 29)[1] Pondicherry, India
Occupation	Actress, Writer [2] [3]
Years active	2008–Present
Spouse	Anurag Kashyap (2011–Present)

Kalki Koechlin Kashyup (Kalki kōcalina kāśayūpī) (born 9 January 1983) ^[4] is an Indian film actress of French descent who debuted in Anurag Kashyap's critically acclaimed Hindi film Dev.D. She also works as a screenwriter. ^[5][6] She played the character of Chandramukhi in Dev.D, which is a modern take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali novella Devdas and eventually won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for it (2009). Kalki next featured in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara which was commercially and critically successful, she was nominated in the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress category (2011).

Early life[link]

Her father Joel Koechlin hitchhiked to India from France, 38 years ago and met her mother Francoise Armandie at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville nearPondicherry. Her parents are devotees of Sri Aurobindo. Eventually they settled in moved to Kallatty, a village near Ooty, where he established a business of a designing hang-gliders and microlight aircrafts, and Kalki was born here ^[7][8] Her ancestor Maurice Koechlin, was a French structural engineer, designed the Eiffel Tower ^[7].

Koechlin was studying in Hebron School, Ooty when her parents insisted she attend university. Koechlin studied drama and theatre in Goldsmiths, University of London, where she also worked with a theatre company called Theatre of Relativity for two years. She performed in various plays like David Hare’s The Blue Room, Marivaux’s The Dispute and a devised play The Rise of the Wild Hunt in her two year stint with the theatre group.^[9][10]

Film career[link]

Koechlin later decided to move to Mumbai to try her luck in Hindi cinema. She was doing modeling assignments for television commercials before being shortlisted for the role of Chandramukhi (Chanda) in Dev.D. She was one of the last girls to be auditioned for the role.^[11] Koechlin can speak Tamil, English and French while she had to learn Hindi to prepare for her role in Dev.D. About her role Koechlin said "My character is much younger and there's much more to it than just being a prostitute. When she is not entertaining customers, she dresses up like any other girl in jeans and stuff and leads a normal life. My role in the film has a controversial streak to it, but I still don't know what would have been an ideal role to debut with. I've got the chance to work with a good director in Dev D and I feel I'm lucky enough." Koechlin was apprehensive about how people will judge her after seeing her in the role.^[8] She co-founded Quaff Theatre, a theatre group in 2008 ^[7].

Upon release, her portrayal of the modern Chandramukhi, who goes from an innocent schoolgirl (Leni) to a vivacious prostitute (Chanda) was critically acclaimed saying "Kalki shows sparks in the scenes".^[12] Hindustan Times said, "Enter Chanda, the multilingual call girl who can seduce in Hindi, Tamil, English and French. With her bee-stung lips, unusual face and refreshing lack of acting guile, Kalki Koechlin imbues the part with a touching fragility."^[13] For her work in Dev D, she was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2010. Koechlin paired with the actor Imran Khan for a Coca Cola advertisement.^[14] The advert was voted the best of the IPL by the TOI Advertisement awards.

ZNMD press conference at Chandigarh

In 2011, she was then seen in Shaitan film critics Komal Nahta commented, "Kalki Koechlin performs with admirable ease". She then starred in Zoya Akhtar's film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara alongside Abhay Deol, Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and Katrina Kaif, film critics Taran Adarsh commented, "Kalki plays a Mumbai girl belonging to the upper crust and though it's not a typical 'heroine' role, Kalki infuses life into the character, fitting into the conceived character accurately". Komal Nahta wrote, "Kalki Koechlin does very well in a difficult role she stands her own amongst the other actors". Box office India declared the film a super hit.

She co-wrote and also starred in Anurag Kashyap's That Girl in Yellow Boots film critics Komal Nahta commented, "Kalki Koechlin delivers a nuanced performance as the tumultuous Ruth. She uses her eyes and body language to the hilt to express varying emotions". Taran Adarsh wrote, "THAT GIRL IN YELLOW BOOTS is embellished with top notch performances, with Kalki scoring brownie points for her super performance in the film. Playing a stylish, sensible, sharp-witted British girl supporting herself by working illegally in a massage parlor, Kalki has the right look for her part, but it does take a lot of guts to portray this intricate role. She has an inimitable talent and onscreen presence by means of which she single-handedly carries the film with her gut wrenching raw performance". Kalki has also helped her husband Anurag Kashyap to write the 2011 film That Girl in Yellow Boots. Koechlin will be seen in Ram Gopal Varma's Happy Journey.^[16]

Personal life[link]

She married filmmaker Anurag Kashyap on April 30, 2011 in a private wedding ceremony in Ooty.^[17] The two had been dating each other since the release of Dev.D.^[18] Following Dev.D., the two associated in That Girl in Yellow Boots again, with Kalki working as a co-writer as well.^[19]

Awards[link]

Filmography[link]

^[20]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kalki Koechlin at the Internet Movie Database

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