Born on January 10, 1984, in Pondicherry, Kalki Koechlin was born to French parents - father Joel Koechlin and mother Franç,oise Armandie. Kalki has spent a significant amount of her early childhood in Auroville (Pondicherry) as her parents are devotees of Sri Aurobindo. (All photos/Kalki Koechlin's official Instagram account)
Kalki Koechlin, who is considered one of those rare actresses in the Hindi film industry, who have made an equal mark in Bollywood as well as in theatre, has done her initial schooling at Hebron School, a boarding school in Ooty and later moved to Karnataka for Higher Secondary school.
At the age of 18, Kalki Koechlin moved to London, to study drama and theatre. In her two years span in London, she participated in many plays like - The Blue Room, The Dispute and Divided, The Rise of Wild Hunt.
Kalki Koechlin made her Bollywood debut in 2009 with Dev D, which was directed by Anurag Kashyap. Dev D was a modern take on Devdas, where Kalki played Chandramukhi's part. Her character Chanda's backstory where she gets embroiled in an MMS scandal is a reference to a real-life scandal that took place at Delhi Public School.
In 2014, Kalki Koechlin's Margarita With A Straw earned rave reviews worldwide and the actress was lauded for her portrayal of a disabled person. She even bagged the best actress award Black Nights Film Festival that was held in Tallinn. Kalki also won the Jury Award at the 63rd National Film Awards for Margarita With A Straw.
Kalki Koechlin's most popular films are - Dev D, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara, Shanghai, Ek Thi Daayan, Margarita With A Straw, Shaitan, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and the latest one being Gully Boy.
Kalki Koechlin is also a playwright. She won the 2009 MetroPlus Playwright Award, along with fellow playwright Prashant Prakash, for the play 'Skeleton Woman'.
Kalki Koechlin identifies herself as a feminist. In 2016, she received a letter of appreciation from Melinda Gates, co-founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for her contribution to bringing the attention to women issues.
On the personal front, Kalki Koechlin married Anurag Kashyap in April-2011, though in 2013 they both parted ways and divorced in 2015.
In 2018, Kalki Koechlin opened up on how she went about the process of coming out of her marriage after the divorce.
'I found myself alone after a very long time. I had to fill up that empty space somehow. I didn't want to fill it up by going crazy and getting drunk, or by surrounding myself with the people. I chose the introverted version of filling up myself by spending more time at home, with the family... I'm happy I went through that journey,' she said.
In mid-2019, Kalki Koechlin almost made it official that she is dating Israeli pianist and music teacher Guy Hershberg. Kalki shared a loved-up picture with Guy and announced that every day is a Sunday for her when she is with him. She also called Guy her 'caveman'. Here's what the entire post read: 'It's always a Sunday when I'm with my favourite caveman (sic)'
Soon after, Kalki revealed that she's five months pregnant with boyfriend Guy Hershberg and is soon expecting their first child. She also revealed that she plans to travel to Goa and prepare for a natural water birth for her child at a local naturalist birth centre.
Talking about her opinions on motherhood and how they have changed over the years, Kalki Koechlin says, "I don't know when my notions began to change, but I knew that after the breakup of my marriage with Anurag [Kashyap, film director], I had come to revisit many ideas. Motherhood began with my brother, who is much younger than I am. I remember watching him come home from school one day, he must have been seven or eight, and with a project on climate change and thinking 'this is such a renewal of innocence'. Children take us back to the basics; remind us of what is important. Also, just wanting to experience pregnancy, of feeling this life grows inside you."
And what kind of a parent does she aspire or expect to be? "I know that I want to be an engaged parent. My concern is to connect with my child, not to have a particular rule, or expectation. I've chosen a name that works for either gender or that is representative of a gay person because I want my child to have that freedom of movement under the many umbrellas of gender that we have," she says.
The couple doesn't seem to be in any hurry to tie the knot and are letting the relationship evolve with time. This is the time for both of them to divert all their energies and attention to someone who's all set to become the newest member of the family and not ponder much about the reactions on social media.
Koechlin, in fact, has a take on it, "My superpower is disconnecting. Media, social media is useful for my work. I am not anti-connection. I have just stopped reacting to what is not relevant to me."
Koechlin is said to be learning to play the ukulele as she is keen that her baby connects to musical sounds.
In 2020, Kalki gave birth to her daughter Sappho whom she had with her partner Guy Hershberg. The couple live together with their daughter and Kalki often shares pictures with her daughter and shares her journey of motherhood on social media
Here's wishing her all the health and happiness.
P.S: Happy birthday, Kalki!
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