Kalki Koechlin gets out of intense roles for her next film

Actor Kalki Koechlin’s last release, That Girl In Yellow Boots got her a lot of critical acclaim, but she confesses that she didn’t think her film would be accepted, let alone expect the praises that came her way.

"It was a difficult film to make and I never knew I would get the kind of response I got for it. It was dark and quite complex, not the usual happy stuff people want to watch, but the feedback I got only makes it pretty evident that there is a market for these films as well. There are people who want to watch these films as well.”

Having said that, Kalki is now super excited about her next film, a commercial film in every sense. She is paired with Prateik in this film and their pairing has been creating a buzz for quite some time. Describing Prateik she says, “He is quite chilled out, but he can get shy at times. He is in his own world most of the time so I call him a dreamer and keep saying that he lives on his own planet — Planet Prateik.”

About working in a typical Bollywood film, she adds, “I know people have this image in their head of me being an intense and serious actor, but trust me, this film has been a joy ride. For a change, I am not trying to shock you. It is a sweet, innocent film that makes you laugh.”

She is romantically paired opposite Prateik in the film, but is she a romantic off screen too? “I am a sucker for romance,” she’s quick to reply. “I watch all the romantic comedies and I am a complete mush pot. I like these really cheesy films.”

Though she has been doing different films, she confesses that she still does not get flooded with offers. There have been times when she didn’t have anything to do, reveals, Kalki. “A year after Dev D I was unemployed for a year. It’s not like I was offered a lot of films. Even now, it is pretty slow. Anyway I am glad it is like that because I would get confused with too many options otherwise.”

In that one year to now, Kalki also gave up smoking and is hoping husband filmmaker Anurag Kashyap too follows suit. “I quit smoking three years back, right after Dev D. As much as I would like Anurag to give up, I know it is not something you can tell or force someone to do. It has to be your own decision and I know that because I have quit too. But it would be wonderful if he stopped as most of his health issues would be solved then.

Kalki Koechlin's date with the President!

Actor Kalki Koechlin along with the stars of her upcoming film has a date with President Pratibha Patil at Delhi soon. According to sources, the President has been invited to a special event at the Formula One racing tournament that is happening soon at Delhi where Kalki is also a special guest.

Sources say that Kalki has sought for some time with the President to invite her for special screening of her film 'My Friend Pinto'. "Kalki will get a few minutes with the President along with Prateik and they would express the desire to host a special screening for the President."

"Kalki is very excited to meet the President and she is already talking about it to her friends. Let's hope that she gets to talk about some relevant issues than only inviting her for her film's screening," adds one of her friends.

Kalki Koechlin's big patch-up

Anurag Kashyap and Sanjay Bhansali haven't been on good terms for a long time.

The reason being Bhansali's protege Vikramaditya Motwane crossed over to Kashyap's camp to make Udaan with him.

Bhansali felt like Kashyap was poaching from him and there was a cold war between the two for a while. However, that changed recently due to Kalki's intervention. Describing how the patch-up happened a source says, "Kalki was doing some patch work for My Friend Pinto and Kashyap happened to land on the sets. Bhansali was also around and Kalki broke the ice between the two and made them talk. The two sat down and it felt like there was no major problem in the first place."

Kalki and Prateik at KC college

The first few months of college can become an ordeal for any fresher, especially if seniors turn out to be unapproachable. On the other hand, if seniors are friendly, one can sail through the toughest days. 

On a look out for the perfect bunch of seniors who can serve as guides for freshers, UTV Bindass has launched a hunt for Bindass Buddies in over 200 colleges across 10 cities in the country. The recent hunt for buddies at KC College, Churchgate saw actors Kalki Koechlin and Prateik interacting with students, while promoting their upcoming film My Friend Pinto. Five buddies will be selected from each college and featured on bindass.com portal, where they can share the latest news updates, events and activities from their respective colleges. 

Says Saurabh Pandey, TYBSc (IT) student of KC College, who was selected as a buddy, “I am really happy to be able to help freshers because I understand that they need guidance in the initial few days of  college.”

Movie Review: That Girl In Yellow Boots

Cast: Kalki Koechlin, Naseeruddin Shah and Shiv Subramaniyam Director: Anurag Kashyap Producer: Anurag Kashyap

The only hint of colour that there is in the life of the female protagonist is confined to her boots. It is significant that we do not see that piece of fancy leather footwear ever again after the introductory scene, which provides a worm’s eye-view of British citizen Ruth (co-screenwriter Kalki Koechlin) patiently waiting for her turn at the foreigners’ registration office in Mumbai.

The girl is here to seek an extension of her tourist visa. But she doesn’t palpably have a chance in hell in this beehive of slothful, corrupt and predatory government functionaries out to extract their pound of flesh.

Director Anurag Kashyap projects this den of exploitative red-tape as a microcosm of sorts of a pitiless city that breeds social and moral deviants who think nothing of riding roughshod over the destinies of the defenseless.

The superbly crafted, wonderfully acted and consistently evocative That Girl in Yellow Boots paints a dark, dismal and desperate portrait of life inside Mumbai’s daunting entrails where Ruth hopes to find salvation and a father who went missing from her life when she was only five.

In order to merely stay afloat in this putrid urban cesspool, the girl works in a massage parlour where she services wrinkled, lustful old men, going beyond the call of duty to make some money on the side.

Just as gloomy and grim is the dank ambience of Ruth’s little home, which seems to be under constant siege. It is invaded frequently by a coke-snorting boyfriend Prashant (Prashant Prakash), a Kannada-speaking gangster Chitiappa (Gulshan Devaiah) and sundry other strangers out to exploit her vulnerability.

That is the price that she must pay for being an illegal migrant: the search for her father brings her face to face with the dregs of society as she is dragged head first through the moral muck of a massive metropolis where Ruth is reduced to a hapless prey.

Kashyap’s film is structured like an urban thriller sans the fisticuffs and gunfights. But the sights and sounds of the city remain on the fringes of Ruth’s ill-fated quest for happiness. The focus of the drama is squarely on the protagonist’s inner traumas as she negotiates dangers and bitter truths at every step.

That Girl in Yellow Boots does not traverse familiar thriller terrain. We see stray bits of the city entirely from the perspective of Ruth’s alien eyes. She isn’t familiar with the dynamics of Mumbai; so the view is tempered with a degree of bewilderment.

We see Mumbai from a half-open window of the massage parlour or from the entrance to her home or in the form of what Ruth catches from a moving auto-rickshaw or taxi. She does not have the wherewithal to come to grips with Mumbai. It is too overpowering for her.

The Mumbai that we usually see on the big screen has as much music and magic as mayhem and madness. But in the city that this film depicts, there can be no room for a fairy tale. It gnaws into the vitals of individuals in insidious ways and leaves them gasping for a gust of the fresh air of innocence and honesty.