Kalki Koechlin was born to French parents in Bommayapalayam, Puducherry on 10 January, 1984. Devotees of Sri Aurobindo, her parents had met in Puducherry in the 1970s, got married and eventually settled in Ooty where her father established a business designing hang-gliders and micro light aircraft. Her parents divorced when she was 15, and her father later remarried.

Kalki attended the Hebron School in Ooty before going to study theatre and drama at Goldsmiths, University of London. Whilst in London, she worked with the Theatre of Relativity and performed in many of their productions, which earned her critical acclaim.

Finding life difficult in London, Kalki decided to return to India. For a while she lived with her older half-brother in Bangalore till she met theatre director Atul Kumar and decided to move to Mumbai to work with him. Once in Mumbai, she started modelling for ads and auditioning for roles in films. Her unusually striking face made quite an impression, but it was her acting talent that got her noticed.

Her breakthrough came when she was called in by UTV to audition for Anurag Kashyap’s Dev.D (2009). After seeing her photograph and learning that she couldn’t speak Hindi, Kashyap was skeptical about casting her. He is quoted as saying, ‘I don’t want some white model. I want an actor.’ But he was so impressed by her audition that he asked her if she could learn Hindi in two months. She took lessons and managed to learn the basics well enough to return for an audition. Her debut role as Chandramukhi earned her a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.

She then starred in That Girl in Yellow Boots (2010), co-writing the screenplay with Kashyap. Her gutsy, nuanced portrayal of the independent and sharp-witted Ruth earned her rave reviews from critics.

In 2011, Kalki appeared in Zoya Akhtar’s acclaimed multi starrer Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011). The film was a big commercial success and she stood out with her role as the frustratingly possessive fiancée Natasha. Two years later, she appeared in the blockbuster Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) alongside Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Aditya Roy Kapur.

Along with her flourishing film career, Kalki has maintained her love for the stage by continuing to write and act in plays. In 2009, she won the prestigious MetroPlus Playwright Award for Skeleton Woman. She has also acted in Trivial Disasters, Hair and Rajat Kapoor’s Hamlet, the Clown Prince.

She recently appeared in the film Margarita with a Straw (2015), a coming of age film where she portrayed the lead, Laila, a woman suffering from cerebral palsy. Her spectacular performance and sensitivity to the issue of disability got her immense critical acclaim as well as a National Film Award.

In 2011, Kalki married Anurag Kashyap in a private ceremony in Ooty and in November 2013, they issued a joint statement announcing their separation.

Kalki is very well known for voicing feminist opinions, and has spoken several times on women’s issues. She has engaged in a number of independent projects pertaining to gender discrimination and inequality.