TGLife
In an interactive session on the second day of Goafest 2019 that began on April 11 at Grand Hyatt, Bollywood actors Kalki Koechlin and Siddhant Chaturvedi shared their struggles and aspirations, views and opinions with the audience. While both of them narrated their initial struggles in their career, they also shared the valued principles they believe in life. Siddhant who has a critically acclaimed film Gully Boy to his credit and few Ads, admitted that for him it was a long struggle before he entered film industry. This 25-year-old nurtured the dream of making it big someday in advertising and films when he was in third year in college and thought he would be welcomed with open arms because of his chocolaty face. “I was a part of a theatre group and my friends advised that since I had a chocolaty face, why not try Ads? I thought I can make a name in advertising and earn big money, but it wasn’t easy.
But I didn’t give up and kept giving auditions after auditions, in the sheer hope that even if I don’t get the offer, at least I can leave my impression and get a call later for some other Ad,” said Siddhant who soon realised that that theatre is different and camera is different. Recalling that his first audition was for a chocolate ad (Perk) which never appeared, the UP born Siddhant added that the first remuneration he received was Rs 2500 for a real estate Ad for Bihar.
On the other hand Kalki Koechlin believes that struggle is struggle and age doesn’t matter when one does it. This Indian born French actress, who lives and works in India, is known for her unconventional body of work in theatre and films.
The recipient of a National Film Award, a Filmfare and two Screen Awards, Kalki remembers Anurag Basu rejecting her even before she was called for audition. “Why only in career or job, there are constant struggles in life. It depends on the person how to remain relatable, relevant and keep being feeling inspired. As long as you are in the comfort zone, its fine, but the moment you step out of the zone you have to find things that fill you up, you have to replenish. My journey from London to Mumbai brought me into theatre as I had studied ‘drama and theatre’ in London and had faced my struggles there. I did all sorts of odd jobs in London but had no plans to settle there and I always wanted to return to India,” she deliberates.
“The process is scary, before you start the shooting. The first day shoot is nerve rockingBut by the time the shoot goes on, you worry about the other things. As actors you cannot get stuck on one film and one has to move on,” said Kalki. When it comes to watching her own work, Kalki likes to do it twice. First time she watches her film as a critic and the second time she enjoys it as a body of art. Siddhant, on the other hand, is cool while watching his film, and thinks ‘What next?’
