There's lots said about me. I have teeth that are way too big for my face or that I am too skinny for my own good... And I can safely say that I have three left feet. But there's nothing I can do about it. That's the way I look, and that's the way I was born.

Kalki Koechlin

Now I know Hindi, and I can read and write Hindi, but the problem is that I can't improvise when I am acting because I think in English, so I have to translate my thinking from English to Hindi, and therefore, I speak slowly.

Kalki Koechlin

Write Use Us

As a teenager, I was very awkward in my skin. I was never in the cool gang. I had braces and was quite the geek as well as a tomboy.

Kalki Koechlin

War Teen Cool

A director's job is like parenting. You have to look after your actors like children, pay attention to each of their different abilities.

Kalki Koechlin

Parenting Your You

I haven't been trying to lose weight. I wish I would put on some weight.

Kalki Koechlin

Yin Would Wish

I, for one, personally like rom-coms, silly rom-coms, but at the same time, I also want to watch a documentary or an award-winning drama.

Kalki Koechlin

War Time Men

Theatre is my first love; I would not have done it if I didn't love it and certainly not for the money - you really have to believe in it.

Kalki Koechlin

Money Love You

In India, you can just show up at a friend's house, and they will feed you; you can borrow someone's clothes and touch each other. In London, they would say, 'Oh, let's meet for coffee at 4:15, and we will talk about, I don't know, this play that we saw.'

Kalki Koechlin

You Would Will

I don't even mind playing a bimbo or a silly girl, as long as it isn't stereotyped and there's a reason for that character to be part of the story.

Kalki Koechlin

Art Yin Type

Adults should be intelligent enough to know what they want - if you don't like it, then don't consume it. A rating system for kids and teens is more important. Especially for violent shows.

Kalki Koechlin

Teen You Want

If you can't go for a honeymoon, steal a weekend and go somewhere. Anurag and I do it quite often. We switch off our phones and go for a small weekend getaway.

Kalki Koechlin

You Witch Wit

What makes us really human is it's in the presence of death that we start valuing life.

Kalki Koechlin

Life Death Art

Everybody should read 'Slaughterhouse-Five' by Kurt Vonnegut. This book is about the hypocrisy of war, told in satire, and is hard-hitting and truthful.

Kalki Koechlin

War Truth Von

In your 20s, you are worried about body issues, your weight, how you are dressed. In your 30s, you're like, 'Oh my God, I am getting old. I am going to enjoy everything.'

Kalki Koechlin

God Your You

We can't let fear steer the way, dictate our lives.

Kalki Koechlin

Fear Way T

I don't want to choose between commercial and independent cinema. I just want to choose between a good film and a bad film.

Kalki Koechlin

Good Want Us

It is enough if I can be relevant. It is more about me keeping up with youngsters than influencing youngsters. So I just want to stay relevant, really.

Kalki Koechlin

Youngsters Youngster Young

A lot of people make fashion their whole life, which I think is not cool.

Kalki Koechlin

Life Cool Whole

'Jia Aur Jia' is like my first proper fun, masti Bollywood film. I have a full-on dance number.

Kalki Koechlin

Wood Woo UN

I think, no matter how successful you are, there is some struggle of one kind or the other for every actor at every level. There are times when your work progresses at an extremely slow pace.

Kalki Koechlin

Work Time Success

When I was studying in London, I worked part-time as a waitress. I was teaching drama to kids. I did a lot of odd jobs to pay for my studies.

Kalki Koechlin

Work Time Art

Being independent in my choices is important to me.

Kalki Koechlin

I want to work with as many directors as possible because with each director, you learn something new.

Kalki Koechlin

I think the glamour industry, all over the world, does portray a version that is 'Photoshopped' - a picture that is not very realistic.

Kalki Koechlin

There's nothing like performing for a live audience.

Kalki Koechlin

There is always going to be depth and layers to people and that's what interests me in a character: when there is some problem to overcome, when there is a complication to understand in a person.

Kalki Koechlin

I consider myself as a human being with lots of ups and downs and learning from a lot of failures before I can succeed.

Kalki Koechlin

I do not differentiate between a commercial and an indie project as long as there is a strong subject and the character in the script is relatable.

Kalki Koechlin

I, in particular, am in a confusing spot because I am Indian, but I am white, which people don't get. So often I find myself struggling to explain my Indianness.

Kalki Koechlin

Once I wanted to get into films, I took my time about it because when I first got to Bombay, I gave my photos and CDs to all the production houses. But the roles that came my way were the 'typical white girl dancing in the background' kind of roles, which I was not too interested in, or it was advertisements.

Kalki Koechlin

I think you're stereotyped after every film. Post 'Dev D,' I was only offered bold roles. Similarly, after 'Margarita With A Straw,' I was offered roles where I had to play differently-abled people. So, no matter what type of film you work in, people tend to slot you.

Kalki Koechlin

There's lots said about me. I have teeth that are way too big for my face or that I am too skinny for my own good... And I can safely say that I have three left feet. But there's nothing I can do about it. That's the way I look, and that's the way I was born.

Kalki Koechlin

In marriage, a woman becomes the weaker sex, even if her husband doesn't want her to be. This happens because of the way society has built the institution.

Kalki Koechlin

At home, my parents were quite old, so the surrounding was of elder people. There was no noise. Reading books was encouraged; TV was not encouraged, so I was the geeky, studious type of girl.

Kalki Koechlin

When your private life has been dragged into public space, you tend to attain a zen-like composure.

Kalki Koechlin

It's only over time that you get to exploring or adding nuances to the character. Like my part in 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' - I am so not the person who wears high heels and totters about like a poodle.

Kalki Koechlin

I feel, at times, women in India go beyond their comfort zone just to clad the trend, and that automatically becomes a faux pas. If you are not comfortable with something, please don't wear it.

Kalki Koechlin

When I have to be in public, I can't be in a bad mood.

Kalki Koechlin

My mum was quite strict, so I was in a very strict household.

Kalki Koechlin

Vulnerability is important in life, I feel. That's what allows you to experience intense emotions, whether it's joy or pain or sadness.

Kalki Koechlin

If you are a musician, you practise your instrument every day, but actors can't be on a set every day. Theatre is a way for me to keep practising my art form.

Kalki Koechlin

In Bollywood, it's always feast or famine for an actress. That's the way of the game.

Kalki Koechlin

People often think that I am funny and crazy, but I think they have also come to love me for it.

Kalki Koechlin

I love outdoor places in the evenings; I don't like box-like clubs.

Kalki Koechlin

Theatre is more metaphorical where you have to be louder and larger than life, whereas film is more subtle and more real.

Kalki Koechlin

I keep saying this: If you're not a feminist, you're a bad person.

Kalki Koechlin

I don't comment on everything; I don't comment on things I don't know enough about. I feel people should talk about something only if they feel strongly about them.

Kalki Koechlin

I like social media, as it cuts out the middleman. You can be yourself, you can't be misquoted, and it's also useful for me to get information about my theatre shows across to people.

Kalki Koechlin

We don't expect someone in a bikini to stand up for women's rights; we only expect a girl in an 'NGO outfit' to speak about it. It's as much as the right of the girl in the bikini to talk about it as a woman in a kurta. We need to embrace that multiplicity.

Kalki Koechlin

The country has double standards - it's obsessed with fair skin on one hand, but if the woman is white, she is expected to be loose-moraled.

Kalki Koechlin

I improvise a lot and try something new every couple of years.

Kalki Koechlin