Pinkvilla Exclusive: Priyanka Chopra has constantly improved as an actress - Kalki Koechlin

Kalki Koechlin who debuted in Anurag Kashyap’s critically acclaimed Dev D has a new movie set for release. After the worldwide success of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Kalki now stars in her second commercial movie, My friend Pinto opposite Prateik. The movie is directed by Raghav Dhar and produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

The movie hits theatres on October 14th.

Pinkvilla.com caught up with the multi faceted actress for an exclusive interview where she discussed My Friend Pinto, her career and how she would love to strike a balance between commercial and offbeat movies.

What is My Friend Pinto all about?

My Friend Pinto is a comedy. It’s a story about a guy called Michael Pinto played by Prateik. Pinto is a very innocent guy and also a little clumsy. The story is about how he manages to affect everyone’s lives and change things around for them.

Describe your character in the movie

I play a girl called Maggie who is this wide eyed, innocent slightly geeky catholic girl. Pinto falls in love with her and we have a sweet romantic track going on.

How is Prateik as a co-star?

He is fantastic. He works really hard. He changes completely into the character he portrays. Prateik is quite a Bandra boy but in this movie he plays a geeky guy so he had to change everything about the way he talks and walks.

My Friend Pinto is a Sanjay Leela Bhansali production. How was it working under the SLB banner?

It was fantastic. Sanjay Leela Bhansali was quite hands off, he hardly came on the sets. He completely left it to the director which was fantastic.

Tell us some funny incidents while on the sets of the movie

The whole film takes place in one night so we only shot at nights. Sometimes the very important scenes would be shot at 5 am in the morning when everyone was half asleep. So there were a lot of blank moments on the sets and all of it was quite funny.

After the super success of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, are you now tempted to do more of the mainstream commercial movies?

I definitely want to do both commercial and offbeat movies. I never had any qualms doing commercial films. Zindagi was the first commercial offer that came to me. Lot of people don’t offer me those roles. It’s just a matter of time. I hope to be able to balance both.

How comfortable are you doing the song and dance sequences ?

I find it very hard to dance. I have 2 left feet. I struggle but that’s the challenge, but I hope one day I will be a good dancer.

What are your upcoming projects?

For now, I am finishing up with Dibakar Banerjee's Shanghai.

Does your husband Anurag Kashyap ever criticize you on your performances?

Yes, Anurag watches all my movies and criticizes about my accent not being right or that I look conscious at times. We are very honest with each other. So it makes me work harder.

Name a couple of actresses whose body of work you really like

I really like the older generation actresses like Shabana Azmi, Tabu. Among the contemporaries, one of the A list actresses who has constantly surprised and improved herself is Priyanka

The other aspect often discussed about you on Pinkvilla is your fashion sense. What does fashion mean to you?

Even when you don’t want, your clothes always speak for you. So fashion is definitely an important statement.
For me, Fashion is an extension of one’s personality. A lot of people make fashion their whole life which I think is not cool. The clothes you wear should define your personality

Lastly, tell us why should one go watch My Friend Pinto?

Come see it if you want to smile. It’s kind of a nice change from all the recent movies hitting the theatres. It has got an upbeat feel to it. If you want to have a nice laugh, then My Friend Pinto is a movie to watch.