Mumbai: An actress known for her unconventional roles in movies like Dev D, Margarita with Straw and many more, Kalki Koechlin shares her perspective on the societal institution called ‘Marriage’, in a subtle way.
She terms marriage as the “Biggest problem” and a process of “Ownership”. In a book titled ‘Feminist Rani’, an interview penned by Shaili Chopra and Meghna Pant, she says that society still looks at women as a weaker section.
Kalki has refined herself after her journey with jolts and turmoil with the filmmaker Anurag Kashyap. She was married to Anurag in the year 2011 and got divorced in 2015.
She says, “Once I tied knots, I was contended only to the invites of Anurag. People never said ‘Call Kalki’, rather said ‘Call Anurag’s wife’.”
She says that even if the husband doesn’t want his wife to be looked at as a weaker sex, the society does, as the attitude and behaviour are institutionalized in such a way.
She stated that “Honesty” and “Independence” are two core strengths of a relationship. She also explained on how she was transformed after the crackdown.
Kalki says, “I was alone for quite a long time. It was a tough time to fill the gap. Usually, people tend to booze and get overdosed, but I chose a different path.”
“I spent my time more with my family rather socialize and being surrounded by people,” she added.
Kalki had a different opinion about the term “Feminism”. She said that the word “Feminism” has nothing to with women, but it is the society with has a patriarchial structure due to which the thoughts of “Feminist” is rejuvenated over a period of time.
She insists upon using the term “Equalist” substituting “Feminist”. She says, “Feminism is all about being equal, with uniform respect.”
“It’s only that we live in a patriarchal society, and therefore, the word feminism has to be used as a counter to patriarchy. But feminism is about being equal. The word used should be ‘equalist’, as it is about all humans being equal and respecting each other for that,” she added.
Speaking about her unconventional choices on screen, she said that she had no high price to be paid for the choices that she made on screen as well as off screen as it was just people’s psyche.
Kalki had said that never will she marry again.
