several others don’t shy away from addressing
themselves as brands and not actors. That’s only
fair because a lot of an actor’s life is not about
acting anymore. It’s no different for Kalki as well.
“You have to realise it’s not just films and ads,
there’s this whole other world that is a part of
maintaining your life as a celebrity. There’s social
media, interviews and, of course, being seen
at places so that people don’t think you have
disappeared,” she explains.
Though she is careful to not let these
distractions come before her work, she admits
that she can’t run away from them either. “If I’m
in town and I have a day off, I’ll go for an event.
I now see that it is important. In the beginning
I didn’t. I remember when Zindagi Na Milegi
Dobara was about to release, I was doing the
play The Real Inspector Hound. Zoya said they
were doing this amazing road trip through India
for promotions, and I said I can’t go because I
had my play opening in a week. And she was
like, ‘Babe, you’re stupid’. And now I realise how
important that stuff is. It helps you finance other
small projects. That comes from all this other
stuff—being on social media, interacting with
fans and generally being a little bit aware of what
your celeb personality is.”
When the noise gets too much, she turns
off her phone, lights her aromatherapy candles,
does yoga, plays calming music and catches
up on her real work. Besides acting, Kalki has
several creative pursuits that she takes seriously,
like writing poetry and theatre. To be able
to hone these other talents and create, she’s
consciously cut down on the coterie of people
who manage her celebrity, otherwise known as an
entourage. “I don’t have a PR person. I just have
an assistant who organises meetings for me. I
don’t have a stylist. If I like something I see, I call
the designer directly,” she says. Typically, an actor
has a minimum of five people who run his or her
life. This includes a manager, a trainer, a hair and
makeup person, a stylist, and the list goes on. “I
once took a stylist with me to the Morocco Film
Festival. I was just so stressed about the dresses. I
couldn’t deal with the fact that I have these seven
outfits that I have to wear on these days and with
these ridiculous earrings!”
Yet, Kalki is often applauded for her original
sartorial sense, walks the ramp for designers,
and makes it to the ‘best-dressed’ list. She has a
clear understanding of when to conform to the
demands of showbiz and when to push back. Her
biggest achievement, she says, is to be able to live
on her own in her own house, and working on her
own terms. Interestingly, those are also the sort of
characters that end up being offered to her. “I get
mostly strong, independent women roles. That’s
why I rarely say no to a film anymore, the right
ones are just coming to me. I truly am lucky.”Film Companion (www.filmcompanion.in) is a
movie platform for reviews, interviews, film festival
news, features and masterclasses.Kalki did what every true struggler must do—go
for auditions, crash on friend’s couches and accept
embarrassing jobs to make that month’s renthttp://www.outlookmoney.com March 2018 Outlook Money 33