‘I’M PLAYING A Rebel AGAIN’

With Gully Boy and Made in Heaven, Kalki Koechlin has already had a good 2019. With a key part in Sacred Games’ new season, it’s poised to get even better

QTell us about your character Batya in the second season of Sacred Games…

She’s a mixed-up character. Born to a Palestinian mother and a Jewish father, she grew up in France, but then rebelled and ran away from home. She was confused. She never identified with the westernisation she was compelled to accept. In her spiritual quest, she came to India and joined an ashram. She now works with Guruji (Pankaj Tripathi), and is very much in the thick of the plot, once it unveils.

Q. So, she’s a fighter, but what is she fighting for?

Well, yeah, I am playing a rebel, yet again. But I think most of my characters have been fighting for something or standing up for something. Sacred Games, as a show, relies on such massive plot turns that it’s impossible for me to tell you what Batya represents.

Q. With Made in Heaven and Gully Boy, you’ve had a year with two very solid hits. As an actor, do you see a real difference between web shows and films?

With the web series space opening up, I have to say there is a lot more choice. But not all of them are good scripts. If it’s a story I connect with, I wouldn’t really think twice if it’s a feature or a web series. Yes, the digital medium has a larger reach due to a global audience but, that apart, I think a good film or a good show will stand on its own despite the medium.

Q. You’ll be appearing in a song in the Tamil film Nerkonda Paarvai. Is this your Tamil debut?

Not really. It’s just a song, and it was exciting to be able to lip synch in Tamil. This is based on the Hindi film Pink, and when Boney Kapoor asked me to be part of this opening song, I was more than glad. In fact, the director added some last-minute Tamil dialogues to the song too, which I was studiously learning onset. My Tamil debut, though, will be a proper full-fledged role, whenever that’ll be. ■