Kalki Koechlin has just made her directorial debut with The Living Room. The play, which deals with life and death, was staged at India Habitat Centre in Delhi as part of the ongoing Old World Theatre festival.
Although the actor-turned-director was nervous about feedback, she was excited about taking her production to the capital. “I was very excited to come to Delhi as I have lot of theatre friends here, whose opinions matter to me. I was a little nervous about their reaction,” Koechlin said.
Death is a character in The Living Room, played by Niel Bhuplam. He is introduced to us in Ana Nil’s (Sheeba Chadha’s) living room. Dressed in a black coat, his body is painted blue an he wears red shoes. Death is given human qualities: he loves ginger cookies and tea, and later engages in a conversation with Ana, who doesn’t want to die.
Koechlin says that the idea came about on a sleepless night and Woody Allen’s sense of humour was a driving force. “I couldn’t sleep one night and wrote a two-page scene between Death and an old woman where she argues with him about life and death. Woody Allen’s sense of humour has always attracted me and I love the way he can make life so meaningful and yet show us what a farce it can be at the same time,” said the actor, who majored in theatre from the University of London before her Bollywood entry.
With death on her bedside, Ana travels back and forth in time revisiting her childhood to the present. Although the play has some surreal moments with well-crafted montages juxtaposing life and death, it consciously desists from tackling death in a philosophical tone. “It is a farcical comedy. I always want to entertain people, not lecture them, although this is far from a commercial subject, the way the story is told to make people enjoy and experience, rather than objectively sit outside it and analyse,” Koechlin said, adding that her play is a comment on the society.
“I wanted to convey how sometimes it takes death for us to wake up and appreciate the experience of life ... Also it’s a comment on our modern lives, and how cheap and aggressive life has become, [how] overpopulation, war, [and] disease [have] all contributed to living becoming more about survival than experiencing life,” said Koechlin, who has received critical acclaim for her roles in movies such as Dev D and Margarita, with a Straw among others.
The plot of the play thickens as Jo (Tariq Vasudeva), Ana’s estranged lover, and Ana’s rich godson, Born Kuber (Jim Sarbh), rush in for shelter from a wild storm. It takes an intriguing turn when Dr Zeus is summoned to investigate the stranger in the house.
Asked about her crew, Koechlin replied: “I love my cast, a bunch of talented and stubborn actors! Each one of them has a different belief on death, so that added to the play, rather than having one point of view, the play offers several. It was difficult for me to know when to let them explore and when to rein things in and edit things out,” she said. Feminism is a way of being for her, affirms the actor, and just like the character Ana, she is a strong, stubborn and independent woman.
Having acted in plays like Colour Blind and Skeleton Woman, Koechlin’s connection with stage is older than with movies. The actor feels that while she becomes an introvert in movies, in order to go into character, theatre keeps her alert. “I love both mediums. Theatre is something that keeps me very alert and I am actively creating whether I am on stage or directing. In films, I feel I become more of an introvert, going deeper in the realism of a character,” she said.
Koechlin also vouched that she will be back in stage soon. “I’m dying to go back on stage (pun intended).”
Asked about her next projects, she said: “I have finished [shooting for the movie] Waiting by Anu Menon. Another movie Jia aur Jia is finally ready, but I have not started any new film yet.”
