Kalki Koechlin talks about facing racism and sexism while growing up as a Tamil ‘white girl’. The actor also mentions her casting couch experience. Read on.
Mumbai: Actor Kalki Koechlin says she has faced and fought racism and sexism since childhood where most people would treat her like the ‘white girl’. The actor, in her recent interview, spoke about the time when people would ask her for drugs. Kalki called it the ‘white girl phenomenon’ where they had a particular mindset about treating white-skinned women.
The popular actor spoke to Siddharth Aalambayan in the interview and said he became the victim of patriarchy at a very early age. Kalki said, “I saw it (patriarchy) from very young because I was always asked for drugs. Because I was the only white girl in my group, it was like that loose morals, white girl phenomenon.”
She referred to the shows being made in the West and a kind of image that was propagated in the minds of the audience about white women through these shows. Kalki added, “They see Baywatch and think that every white girl must be like that. Just like forwardness. And then the minute I would answer back in Tamil, they would be like ‘Akka, sister’, you know. Suddenly their perspective of you changes just because you speak in their language.”
The actor went on to speak about facing the casting couch in the industry. Kalki is one of the most respected and talented actors who has worked across genres and film industries in India. Her noted works include Dev D, Shanghai, Shaitan, Margarita With a Straw, That Girl in Yellow Boots, and Ek Thi Daayan among others. Her career trajectory has a sprawling mention of successful films in both the commercial and the parallel space. But, even she was subjected to the casting couch.
Elaborating on the same, the actor said, “There was a film I did an audition for and I really liked and they called me back and said that you just need to meet the producer. So, I met the producer in his office with the blinds down and he said, ‘So, you know this is going to be your big opportunity. You are going to make it with this and I would really like to know you better. Can we go for dinner?’ I got the drift of it and said that ‘Listen, it’s not for me. I am not into that’.”
Kalki even mentioned how people have often commented on her appearance and made sure to highlight she doesn’t look like a conventional Indian. The actor talked about a makeup artist who refused to put eyeliner on her lids saying ‘I can’t do the eyeliner on your eyes because there are too many wrinkles.’
Kalki has always been vocal about problems in the industry and how she made her way despite everything. She was once asked about why she doesn’t work in movies like ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ in which she played the role of Aditi. Staying true to her personality, the actor, quite honestly, said for her to do that kind of commercial cinema, it is important that she is also offered those kinds of roles. The actor mentioned that nobody writes those commercial roles for her anymore.
Kalki is now a mother to a three-year-old daughter Sappho. Your thoughts on her statements?
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