Kalki Koechlin

Biography

Born on 10th January 1984 to French parents in Auroville, Tamil Nadu, Kalki Koechlin is an Indian actor, writer, and director. She has appeared majorly in Bollywood films and has also received a National Award for Margarita with a Straw (2014). 

Koechlin is famous for doing roles portraying strong women characters who resist conventional Indian norms and practices. She debuted in Bollywood with Anurag Kashyap's critically acclaimed film Dev D (2009). For this film, Kalki won her first Filmfare Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress.

Kalki Koechlin is also actively involved with various humanitarian causes like women's rights and gender equality. She regularly participates in various social campaigns to promote education for children living in rural India.

In 2014, Koechlin did a cameo in Happy Ending, co-starring Saif Ali Khan and Ileana D'Cruz. The film received a lot of flak for its predictable storyline and failed to leave any impact. Kalki then appeared in Shonali Bose's movie, Margarita with a Straw in which she plays the role of a young woman with cerebral palsy. 

It's touted as her career-best performance to date for which she won the Jury Award at the 63rd National Film Awards for this film. In 2016, Kalki starred along with the veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah in Waiting. Directed by Anu Menon, this drama film opened to highly positive reviews.

Koechlin believes that there is nothing like performing for a live audience. She has done various plays like Trivial Disasters, The Real Inspector Hound, and Rajat Kapoor's Hamlet, The Clown Prince. She also has her own theater company called Little Productions and made her directorial debut on stage with Living Room. As of 2019, Kalki is associated with Gully Boy.