Kalki Koechlin Opens Up About Rejections & Being Propositioned By A Producer

Ever since her debut in the 2009 film Dev D, Kalki Koechlin has enthralled us time and again with her versatile performances in Margarita With A Straw, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Shaitan and That Girl In Yellow Boots to name a few. But the journey hasn’t been easy, revealed the actress in a recent candid interview.

Hindustan Times quoted her talking about rejections and mean comments from casting agents saying, “When I went to Hollywood, in LA, one lady said to me, ‘Can you come closer? So I can see the wrinkles around your eyes’. Another guy said, ‘How old are you?’. I said 30 and he said, ‘Oh, don’t worry. You still have 5 years left for your career’.”

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Closer home, she was told that her teeth were too big and received some negative reviews.

“I remember being really upset after Dev D because there was one article that came out and at that time I was reading everything because it was my first film. That article was like, ‘They get all Russian prostitutes to work here in Bollywood’ and I was like, I am not Russian. Get your research right.”

NDTV quoted her adding,

“I found that judgmental-ness coming from our own media. I found that really tough in the beginning. But you grow a thicker skin today and I think my superpower today is just to not read that stuff.”

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Kalki recounted the time she faced the infamous casting couch and got candid about how volatile this nature of work is as sometimes she didn’t have any work while at others, she had to refuse it.

“It was not so direct, like a sexual proposition but a producer of a certain film that I had auditioned for basically wanted to go on a date with me. I was seeing someone at the time and I was like ‘I’m really sorry, I’m not interested’. And then there was no callback. The film didn’t happen.”

“I have literally had eight-nine months of no work coming to me. That too after successes like Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.”

Here is the full interview.

The actress is currently expecting a child with boyfriend and Israeli classical pianist, Guy Hershberg. She has zeroed in on a name that works for a baby of either gender and that is representative of a gay person.

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