In Kalki's living room

Two years ago, Kalki Koechlin shared a cup of tea with me, as we both sat cross-legged on the floor. She was taking a break from rehearsing for Manav Kaul’s play Colour Blind and that day, I got a chance to observe Kalki, as an actor on stage. She was not very different from how I’ve found her in her film roles – intense, dedicated and a delight to watch.

A few months ago, the roles were reversed. A few days ahead of her directorial debut in theatre - The Living Room’s premiere in Bengaluru - I observed her, as she sat on a chair with her legs on the table in front of her, watching her actors rehearse. She remained quiet all throughout, letting them fumble, remember their lines and carry on.

Later, she sat cross-legged on the floor of the rehearsal room at Laxmi Industrial estate in Andheri, and examined her little toe which she had hurt a few days ago, as she waited for her actors to settle down around her. Sheeba Chaddha had left immediately after the rehearsal was over, but the others — Jim Sarbh, Tariq Vasudeva and Neil Bhoopalam — were ready for their feedback, and settled down near her. “Guys, you forgot your lines too many times today. You have to read the script at home,” she told them, as they looked suitably chastised.

By the time you read this, Kalki’s directorial stage debut, The Living Room, would have been staged at Bengaluru, and in Delhi, and is ready to be shown at Mumbai’s NCPA Centrestage festival which starts on November 27.

She told us she was glad that she didn’t have a film on hand to divert her attention from the play. “I would have gone nuts if that was the case. As it is, I have grown old in the past one month with all the stress,” she had said with a laugh.

Death brings meaning to life

She had written a play earlier, titled Skeleton Woman, but had left the direction to someone else. “This time, I wanted to direct. I guess I’m a bit of a control freak,” she laughed. Earlier titled A play on Death, Kalki changed the title to The Living Room, but was not sure where the idea of the play came from. “It’s a conversation between an old woman and Death. The dilemma, which it explores, is that does one live their life fully because life is so short or do you live life depressed because you will eventually die. Along with that is the idea that if you had that one extra day to live, what would you do with it. Death, in a way, brings meaning to life,” she added.

It might sound like a lot of philosophizing, but just as life can be either uplifting or depressing, the play too has heightened moments of sadness and happiness. And because she’d been told umpteen times about similarities between her play and Woody Allen’s Death Knocks, Kalki went ahead and read it. “The only similarity I found is that death plays a bumbling character in both the plays, but what eventually happens is different,” she revealed.

Taking inspiration from directors

Tariq, one of the actors from the cast, believes she is very patient as a director. “I guess I can be sympathetic to the position of the actors in terms of the frustration they feel when they are exploring a character, because I know what it is not knowing what you’re doing on stage,” said the actor who’s studied drama and theatre from the University of London and also acted in a number of plays.

Directors such as Rajat Kapoor, Atul Kumar and Rehaan Engineer have influenced her directing skills, said the first-time director. “Rajat always says that one should let the actor’s exploration period be as long as possible. From Atul, I’ve learnt about the specificity of movement. And while I haven’t worked with Rehaan, I’ve seen how he works and pays attention to the text and the intention of the grammer,” she said.

Would she act in a play directed by her, we were curious to know. “It would depend entirely on the kind of play it is. If it’s a monologue, then I can do it, but an ensemble play like this would be impossible,” she said.

All we can say is, we can’t wait to watch what this talented actor and director has in store for us, when the play is staged on November 29 at NCPA.
    

Much love

The Art Addict

PS: The Art Addict is no fan of James Bond but when it comes to the other Bond - Ruskin, she would like her name to be mentioned on top of the fan list. And so, she is super pleased to know that Penguin India has recently announced that the speaker for their Penguin Annual Lecture 2015 would be the much-loved author. The event would be held in the capital in mid-December.