Kalki who explored a whole new side of her as an actor with her new play based on Rabindranath Tagore

The last time we saw Kalki Koechlin she was skiing through mountains of Manali in a movie that went onto become the biggest blockbusters of the year. Now, she is back to doing what she calls her 'gym' as an actor. She's returned to the stage and loving it. `Sadly I've to lie to my producers every time I do a play.

I tell them I'm shooting because people don't take theatre that seriously in India. But when you're on stage, you're not a star. You're just one among the other actors and that brings back a sense of balance in me,` she says.


Having spent the last nine months reading up every good piece of information she can about Rabindranath Tagore, Kalki now says that she's finally feeling equipped to play Tagore's muse Victoria Ocampo in her latest play Colour Blind. `Frankly I did not know much about Tagore apart from the fact that he wrote our national anthem, which is also why this play has been such a learning curve for me,` admits Kalki who says she was one of the more obvious choices for the part for director Manav Kaul.

`They were looking for someone who looks French, speaks English, so it fit. I really wanted to work with Manav after watching some of his work, so it all came together.` Kalki also co-wrote Colour Blind that explores the relationship between Tagore and Ocampo, apart from highlighting the many aspects of the writer's life.

`Tagore lost his mother very early and had a complicated relationship with his father. Many of these aspects influenced his early years as a writer. For me it was about discovering the man who probably has had the most painful life.`


What she could relate to though was the love Tagore and Victoria shared. `If you ask me, I'd say of course I can fall in love when I'm 60. In fact I fall in love every week.`

Ask her if she's in a content space with love at the moment and she adds, `I'd rather not talk about that. All I can say is I'm somebody who is extremely honest in my approach to love. I feel confident that I have always loved fully and always expressed what I felt. I've never restrained myself and in that sense, I feel very happy at the moment.`