A
t the very onset of the interview,
actor Kalki Koechlin declares
she is clueless about money,
finance, stocks, mutual funds
and everything in that realm. “This is going
to be a really funny interview. I don’t know
anything about money. I take advice on how
to invest from my next-door neighbour,” she
says, even before she can settle into her seat at
a suburban Mumbai restaurant. In fact, 2018
started for her with a sermon from her long-
standing talent managers at KWAN. “They told
me, ‘Kalki, can we please try and make some
money this year?’ They’ve been with me since
before Dev.D, so they know how I am. By now,
they know that I will run off to do theatre for
two months and turn my phone off.”It’s been nine years and roughly 16 films
since the release of her first Hindi film Dev.D,
and despite what she may say about being
a hopeless negotiator, Kalki has steadfastly
managed to build her brand. Every now and
then, she has met with stone cold silence from
her managers when she announces that she’s
doing a tiny, indie project. The trouble, she
says, is that she can’t resist a good script. “Like
just now, I did a film with Rajat Kapoor. It was
a quick 20-day shoot. Sab ghar ki baat hai.
There was no money. He said we’ll pay you
later. I can’t say no to him. I’ve worked with
him for years. When I say these things to my
managers, I get silence for two days. Then
they’ll say, you know you’re missing out on a
big, commercial, action movie. You could get
this much money,” she says with a laugh.
That said, Kalki has consistently made film
choices that are brave, diverse and smart. She
has taken risks that for the most part have paid
off. Take the past two years for instance—there
was Konkona Sen Sharma’s fantastic directorial
debut A Death In The Gunj, which had an
ensemble cast but a great part for her. Then she
played the lead in Ribbon, an urban love story
about a woman juggling a career and a baby.
She also shot for the next big web show for
Amazon Prime Video India, managed
to squeeze in a small, crowdfunded
indie film called Mantra, and
simultaneously made time for her
true love—theatre. At present, she’s
filming with Ranveer Singh and Alia
Bhatt for Zoya Akhtar’s next,
Gully Boy.
The trick, she says, is to nourish
both the artist and brand equally. “I’ve
found a rhythm. I realised I get one or
two big commercial films every few
years, and then I get these indie films.
I am lucky now that I have some sort
of a brand name. Endorsements come
to me often enough. That allows me
to do indie films. And then I make
space for a big film like Gully Boy.
So I think I’m really privileged,” she“I am lucky now that I have some
sort of a brand name. Endorsements
come to me often enough”Kalki has
consistently
made film
choices that are
brave, diverse
and smart. She
has taken risks
that for the
most part have
paid off
Cover Story
30 Outlook Money March 2018 http://www.outlookmoney.com