Kalki Koechlin sported a burst of colours on the ramp at Lakme Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI, in Eshaa Amiin. Post-show, we caught up with the Gully Boy actress, backstage, for a candid chat on colours in her life, adulting and tips for life.
You wore something so colourful. What is adding colour to your life right now?
Oh gosh. Of course, my motherhood is adding too many colours to my life, especially unicorn colours. And, I guess just the diversity of my reading. I read my novels. I am reading scripts, kids’ books and research material for something I am writing.
Are you a colour person?
Yes and no. There are times when I am just in black and athleisure and I just want to be practical and there are times when I am going to a music festival where I want to stand out.
Do you have a favourite colour?
At the moment, I am into turquoise and blues, the aquamarine shades...
Maybe a beach holiday is calling you...
That’s my favourite place! By the ocean...
Have your preference of colours changed over the years?
Absolutely. A couple of years back it was red. Before that it was green. As you grow and age, you change in many ways.
Kalki with daughter Sappho
Colours also spell happiness. What makes you happy?
It’s in the little things. We are always wanting happiness to be permanent, but it’s just the little sparks that come and go and it’s about being in the moment so that you enjoy those sparks. I might hate it when my daughter (Sappho) wakes me up at 7am and I haven’t slept well or went to bed late, but she makes these fox sounds and licks my face (laughs) and I am like: ‘What else do you need in life?!’ Those moments that often we are not ready for bring happiness to us and the only way to be ready for it is to be as much in the present as you can.
What are your summer memories from childhood?
I remember cycling and it being very hot and always having to wear hats. I think for me, it was just lucky to be by the ocean. Water was a big element of my childhood. I was always jumping into a body of water.
Have you made peace with adulting? And, what do you miss about your childhood?
I think I am lucky to be in a vocation where I get to play my life. What I do on stage, when I am improvising or prepping for a character, it’s all form of play and that keeps me in touch with my playful childhood elements. Of course, having a kid, you end up playing with them as well. I’ve made characters for Sappho, like this Hindi version of Batman, which she loves.
I hope every human being has forms of expression which can take them back to that playfulness, but at the same time, in adulting, you learn to be responsible and take your identity and make a path according to who you are. You start recognising what things are making you unhappy. That’s the great thing about age. You become so much better at understanding what you don’t need in your life any more and start building some boundaries and a path for yourself, which is important.
We resist a lot when we are younger. What is your tip for all the youngsters who are in a chaotic mind space?
My ideal bedtime is 10.30pm. If I have a day that starts at 7am and I get some sports in and work in and I get to go to bed at 10.30pm, I am the happiest. You just got to know that change is coming all the time. That’s a comfort in a tough time because you know it’s going to change, but also in the happy times. You got to adapt to new situations. We are basically on this planet to learn how to say goodbye to loved ones, and I know it sounds dark, and to die. You have to learn how to let go and the best way to do that is also to embrace what we have at this moment and who are people and things we value.