She is an actress, he is a film director; they meet on the sets and drive off into a warm sunset. It is not a new theme for a romantic story. But when Kalki Koechlin and Anurag Kashyap start talking about theirs, the sparks fly, the gazes flirt, the touch communicates deep meaning, finds Vandana Rana.
Never coy about their relationship,
the cosycouple once again get into a little love fight when we ask them who is
the more romantic of the two. “Kalki,” says Anurag, and she responds, “No, it’s
Anurag!” It’s probably both.
From
HemaMalini – Dharmendra and Sridevi – BoneyKapoor to KiranRao – Aamir Khan,
Bollywood has seen many reel romances turn into real-life love tales. From
partners at work, they end up partners in life, and audiences are enraptured.
Adding to the glorified legend of the star and the director, KalkiKoechlin and
AnuragKashyap tied the nuptial knot last year after a live-in relationship that
left many scandalised and many others rather envious.
They met on
the sets of Dev D when the spark of romance was first
lit. Within six months, they decided to live together. There was no ‘courtship
period’ nor did they date in the conventional sense. “I just went to her house,
picked up all her bags, and said, ‘We are living together.’ That’s it,” says
Anurag, sharing a tender glance with soul-mateKalki. The lovey-dovey couple –
who have been remarkably open about their relationship in an industry that revels
in keeping things under wraps -– believe that love is a feeling you cannot
gauge or predict. “Actually love is quite natural and organic, bas hojatahai (it just happens)…” shares Anurag, while Kalki finishes his sentence,
“You know when it happens.”
It was
Anurag – eleven years Kalki’s senior – who eventually touched upon the subject
of marriage. “He proposed every day, and one fine day I said yes,” says Kalki
with the hint of a smirk. The couple got married under a hundred-year-old mango
tree in the southern hill town of Ooty where Kalki was born to French parents
twenty-eight years ago. The wedding was carried out according to traditional
Tamil ceremony, and the celebrations extended to a party later. “We are a
Disney movie, Beauty and The
Beast,” jokes Anurag.
To make the wedding even more memorable, Kalki wrote, composed and sang a Tamil
English rap song for him. As he recounts the story, Anurag quips, “If she posts
that song on Facebook, it will be a bigger viral hit than Kolaveri di,” and Kalki joins him in a cackle.
Indeed, it
is humour that has helped seal this couple’s bond. Anurag, who grew up in
Benaras and who has a ten-year-old daughter from his first marriage to film
editor Aarti Bajaj, often amuses Kalki with his droll antics. Once, on holiday,
they got into a fight. Amidst the maelstrom of arguments, Anurag said “...don’t
vallo (wallow) in your sorrow,” and Kalki burst into
laughter. These little episodes have kept their married life sparkling fresh,
and even though they don’t expressly proclaim that they are a romantic couple,
it is evident in the way he teases her and makes her laugh, the way she
cleanses his spectacles and caringly sets his hair.
They tell
ATELIER they don’t have too much time to spend together and sometimes find it
hard to believe they are married. But whatever time they do get, they believe
in enjoying each moment of togetherness with love. “We don’t meet for months
and perhaps that is why we look very much in love when we do meet,” suggests
Kalki.
Work has been an instrumental part of their relationship, but they
insist they keep their personal and professional lives separate while on the
sets. Their films together include Dev D, Shaitan and That Girl in Yellow Boots, but as a rule, they
don’t talk about domestic matters while at work. “Sometimes, we don’t even talk
to each other while we are working,” shares Kalki, who co-wrote their latest
release That
Girl in Yellow Boots with Anurag. But, on the other hand, the couple do feel
that their workaffairs
disturb their private life at times. Anurag, who has made a career of intense,
unconventional and even disturbing films, shares, “Professional incidents and
events pour into our personal spaces; it depends on the kind of film we are
doing.” When asked about their future projects together, he mockingly
complains, “We were working together, but now she is busy working with other
directors. She has no time for me.”
Kalki, who
studied drama and theatre at Goldsmith’s University of London and also worked
with theatre company before moving to India, knows Anurag as a director first
and then as a life partner. She loves the way he works: “He is very masti
on sets, all chilled out. But he is nightmare to all his assistant directors,
since he changes his mind within seconds,” reveals Kalki, grinning. But she
admires that he gives a free hand and a comfort zone to his actors.
Hindi is a
topic of contention. Kalki, who is well-versed with Tamil and French, “talks in
Hindi with our driver, cook and my parents but not with me,” says Anurag wryly.
But when it is about films and projects, she makes sure that language doesn’t
come in her way. “I work with a tutor on my Hindi before any project. But I
think Anurag needs Hindi classes more than me,” quips Kalki in return.
