Kalki's parents had come to India as hippies and are devotees of Sri Aurobindo

‘I feel like a kid in grown-up clothes’
Express Features First Published : 16 Feb 2009 11:18:00 AM IST

Born in Pondicherry, Tamil is 25-year-old Kalki Koechlin’s first language (besides French, of course). Her parents were inspired by Sri Aurobindo’s teachings (Kalki, however, as mentioned in an interview, is still searching for the right religion). She attended school in Ooty, moved to London to study theatre, and returned to set up base in Mumbai. Two years and several stints in theatre later, she landed her first Bollywood film, Dev. D, directed by Anurag Kashyap.

A contemporary take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel, Devdas, it is an audaciously crafted drama, with Kalki playing Chanda (Chandramukhi), a prostitute who talks dirty in Tamil and French.

Kalki Koechlin is an Indian actress of French descent who debuted in Anurag Kashyap's critically acclaimed Hindi film Dev.D. She played the character of Chandramukhi in Dev.D, which is a modern take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali novella Devdas.
Kalki was born to French parents in a small village in Pondicherry. Her parents had come to India as hippies 38 years ago and settled there after they fell in love with the country. Her parents are devotees of Sri Aurobindo.
Kalki was studying in Ooty when her parents insisted her to attend university. Kalki studied drama and theatre in Goldsmiths, University of London, where she also worked with a theatre company called Theatre of Relativity for two years. She performed in various plays like David Hare’s The Blue Room, Marivaux’s The Dispute and a devised play The Rise of the Wild Hunt in her two year stint with the theatre group.
Kalki later decided to move to Mumbai to try her luck in Indian Cinema. She was doing modeling assignments for Television commercials before being shortlisted for the role of Chandramukhi (Chanda) in Dev.D. Kalki can speak Tamil, English and French while she had to learn Hindi to prepare for her role in Dev.D.
She won The Hindu metro playwright award 2009 along with Prashant Prakash [1] for their for their co-authored entry ‘Skeleton Woman.’ She had also acted in the play "Hair" directed by Ajaykrishnan.[2]