Kalki Koechlin Interview: I would love to do Tamil films as I speak fluent in Tamil!

A. It’s a film about a couple who live in Mumbai. They are a typical urban couple. They are well educated and so-called liberal. But they are facing a lot of troubles. Firstly, Sahana, my character, is pregnant. Secondly, they have a lot of money issues. They are in debt. They have to look after their aging parents. And now, there is a baby on the way. They are really in a dilemma. The story of the film spans four years, from pre-pregnancy to when the baby is four years old. There are a lot of changes in my characters in these four years.

Q. How was it to play a mother onscreen? This is the first time when you have taken up a role like this?

A. I have never been a mother, so I had to do a lot of research. Well, first I read a lot about pregnancy, so much so that after a point Google started sending me alerts wherever there was something interesting and new related to pregnancy and motherhood. They were sending me almost everything to do with pregnancy. My Gmail was filled with that. So, yeah, I read a lot on pregnancy and post-pregnancy. I met some mothers also. One woman, I met told me that it feels like a truck has been passing through your vagina while delivering a baby. The other woman said that post-pregnancy your vagina feels like a sad marshmallow numb to the world. Then, on top of that, Rakhee (director) had a friend who just had a baby ten days back. It was a month before we were going on floors. So, I was like I want to be there. I want to spend time with her, watching her breastfeed and also how to pump milk because a working mother has to keep the milk in the fridge, how to massage a baby, how to change a baby’s napkin. I became a pro at napkin changing. So, it was hands-on work.