Top 102 Quotes & Sayings by Kalki Koechlin

I think it's what's inside that makes you beautiful on the outside.

We don't expect someone in a bikini to stand up for women's rights; we only expect a girl in an 'NGO outfit' to speak about it. It's as much as the right of the girl in the bikini to talk about it as a woman in a kurta. We need to embrace that multiplicity.

Theatre is really an actor's playground.

In the beginning, I was very stubborn and always wanted to be just an actor. I was told by a lot of people to try my hand at writing or directing, but I always thought, 'I am an actor, and this is what I want to do.'

I don't comment on everything; I don't comment on things I don't know enough about. I feel people should talk about something only if they feel strongly about them.

As a teenager, I was very awkward in my skin. I was never in the cool gang. I had braces and was quite the geek as well as a tomboy.

In marriage, a woman becomes the weaker sex, even if her husband doesn't want her to be. This happens because of the way society has built the institution.

It's only over time that you get to exploring or adding nuances to the character. Like my part in 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' - I am so not the person who wears high heels and totters about like a poodle.

We need better and stronger roles for female actors.

Being independent in my choices is important to me.

I think the glamour industry, all over the world, does portray a version that is 'Photoshopped' - a picture that is not very realistic.

What makes us really human is it's in the presence of death that we start valuing life.

Often, we hide our personality and are afraid of bringing it out in our clothes. So, I think when people are fashionable, they are able to express themselves.

I do not differentiate between a commercial and an indie project as long as there is a strong subject and the character in the script is relatable.

I don't work for awards; they're just an icing on the cake.

When your private life has been dragged into public space, you tend to attain a zen-like composure.

I will say that my style sense is very mercurial. There are days when I love to be all comfy, relaxed in casual wear, and there are days when I go all matching, matching.

Going to London at 18 to study drama and theatre made me grow up really fast.

'Jia Aur Jia' is like my first proper fun, masti Bollywood film. I have a full-on dance number.

When I have to be in public, I can't be in a bad mood.

Of course, people have tried to stereotype me... But it's very short-lived if you realise that you're only as new as your newest film... You have to look beyond the period of initial reactions and recognise that there's a bigger body of work and an effort to do something bigger.

Being a feminist means asking for equality. But people take it the other way at times. It is looked down upon is because it is seen as man-hating. But, feminism is a really crazy idea that suggests men and women are equal.

We can't let fear steer the way, dictate our lives.

It's great to come home always... coming home to good south Indian meals or Andhra food is always a pleasure.

In your 20s, you are worried about body issues, your weight, how you are dressed. In your 30s, you're like, 'Oh my God, I am getting old. I am going to enjoy everything.'

A director's job is like parenting. You have to look after your actors like children, pay attention to each of their different abilities.

There were a lot of pretty women in cinema around Audrey Hepburn's time, but she stood out because she had a very interesting personality - which went beyond her looks. She did so much for women, for animal rights, for children's education - it's always the personality that comes through and makes one seem beautiful.

I like Kerala a lot. The beautiful beaches there, the backwaters - I have good memories of the place.

Now I know Hindi, and I can read and write Hindi, but the problem is that I can't improvise when I am acting because I think in English, so I have to translate my thinking from English to Hindi, and therefore, I speak slowly.

I think beauty shows exteriorly what you are feeling inside; so if you are not in a great mood, it shows on your face a lot.

I keep saying this: If you're not a feminist, you're a bad person.

I, in particular, am in a confusing spot because I am Indian, but I am white, which people don't get. So often I find myself struggling to explain my Indianness.

I am just like a common woman who love shopping in Sarojni Nagar and Janpath. I am the one who shops on Indian street, in malls of Dubai and even vintage stores of London and New York.

I consider myself as a human being with lots of ups and downs and learning from a lot of failures before I can succeed.

The country has double standards - it's obsessed with fair skin on one hand, but if the woman is white, she is expected to be loose-moraled.

There's nothing like performing for a live audience.

You wouldn't believe how many people have told me that I need to fix my teeth or that I need to restructure my jawline.

I love being unconventional because that's the reason I stand out.

You can't force people to change. You can only give them the option.

In Bollywood, it's always feast or famine for an actress. That's the way of the game.

I think, no matter how successful you are, there is some struggle of one kind or the other for every actor at every level. There are times when your work progresses at an extremely slow pace.

I do like to dress up, and I love to go for red carpet events and look my best, but I have to be comfortable, and I don't want to wear make-up when I am taking a flight.

I, for one, personally like rom-coms, silly rom-coms, but at the same time, I also want to watch a documentary or an award-winning drama.

I don't even mind playing a bimbo or a silly girl, as long as it isn't stereotyped and there's a reason for that character to be part of the story.

I was born in Pondicherry. Both my parents are French. They met in Pondicherry in the '70s, got married, and stayed back in India.

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.

I improvise a lot and try something new every couple of years.

I feel, at times, women in India go beyond their comfort zone just to clad the trend, and that automatically becomes a faux pas. If you are not comfortable with something, please don't wear it.

I am not an activist. I am an actor.

There's lots said about me. I have teeth that are way too big for my face or that I am too skinny for my own good... And I can safely say that I have three left feet. But there's nothing I can do about it. That's the way I look, and that's the way I was born.

A film is a mirror image of our society. If there's something wrong with the way we make films or the way women are stereotyped, then it means that it's happening in real life.

I like fashion, but it's not something that I follow religiously.

Once I got married, I was only invited to the things that Anurag was invited to. People would say, 'Call Anurag's wife.' They wouldn't say, 'call Kalki' or 'call Kalki's husband.'

It is enough if I can be relevant. It is more about me keeping up with youngsters than influencing youngsters. So I just want to stay relevant, really.

Women should get together and become the pillars of support for each other.

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.

When I was studying in London, I worked part-time as a waitress. I was teaching drama to kids. I did a lot of odd jobs to pay for my studies.

I do not get that many offers in commercial cinema, to be very honest.

I like social media, as it cuts out the middleman. You can be yourself, you can't be misquoted, and it's also useful for me to get information about my theatre shows across to people.

My mom was very worried when I was starting off my career in the film industry. She never told me to not take up acting, but she would always tell me to have a backup plan so that if nothing works out in the acting career, then I can switch.