Cover Story
“ You have to realise it ’ s not just films and ads , there ’ s this whole other world that is a part of maintaining your life as a celebrity ”
says . Kalki is the face of brands like Oriflame , Cotton World and Hidesign .
There was a period after her divorce from filmmaker Anurag Kashyap , in 2013 , when she , quite literally , couldn ’ t afford to strike that balance between art and commerce . Her marriage had just fallen apart , and she was back to living alone and paying rent . Previously , she and Anurag were living in a flat for which they had jointly taken a loan . Her troubles were compounded by a sudden illness in her family that she had to finance . The first sacrifice Kalki had to make was to put aside theatre for a few years and concentrate only on jobs that would bring in substantial money . Now , she makes it a point to do at least one play a year . “ I had to work really hard after I left Anurag ,” she says . “ That part of my life was all about cutting ribbons . It was so disorienting . You reach a hotel , you don ’ t really connect with anybody , you cut a ribbon , and then take photos with the family and cousins of the family who are funding it . You don ’ t learn or grow . At the beginning I didn ’ t have a good attitude about it , but then I thought at least I ’ m meeting all sorts of people . And suddenly things happened that got me to a Ted Talk or a FICCI talk .”
This wasn ’ t the first time Kalki was exposed to the famous Mumbai hustle that every young
“ I had to work really hard after I left Anurag . That part of my life was all about cutting ribbons . It was so disorienting ” actor has to endure . “ I remember when I had to go for social events , I would get that one Long Island iced tea and sip on it all night . It has the most amount of alcohol for least amount of money . So you have to find your strategies to living with less ,” she says . In her pre-Dev . D years , Kalki did what every true struggler must do — go for daily auditions , crash on friend ’ s couches and accept embarrassing jobs to make that month ’ s rent . “ The worst thing I did was this awful teleshopping ad . It was for one of those useless weight loss machines . I remember it was this jiggly thing — you put it on and weight is supposed to just fall off ! I was made to wear pink hot pants and a bra . But I got paid around `20,000 and that was great . I was living on a week-to-week basis because I didn ’ t have financial support from my parents .”
When the ads and modelling assignments started rolling in with some regularity , Kalki did the other thing every struggler must do — get an impressive portfolio . “ My portfolio had sexy photos of me in a bikini . It was shot by a photographer who had a studio in Aram Nagar with a backyard . In some of those photos , I was climbing a tree in a two-piece . They weren ’ t really Bollywood and bling , but I thought they were pretty nice ,” she says . When these photos landed on Anurag Kashyap ’ s desk , who was then looking to cast Chanda in Dev . D , his exact words were : “ I don ’ t want another Russian model . I need a real actress .”
These words bring her to mull on what the definition of a ‘ real actress ’ would be today . Stars like Sonam Kapoor , Priyanka Chopra and
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Outlook Money March 2018 www . outlookmoney . com