Kalki Koechlin in a scene from That Girl in Yellow Boots.
The critically-acclaimed independent filmmaker, Anurag Kashyap walked on the red carpet with his cast for the premiere of his latest film That Girl in Yellow Boots at the Toronto International film Festival (TIFF) this year.
Anurag Kashyap is leading the independent filmmaker’s movement in India and he is known as the writer-director of most of his productions. Anurag was born in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, in India and studied Zoology at the University in New Delhi. In 1999 he wrote and directed his first film Satya and won several awards.
In 2002 he directed Paanch. The film ran into trouble with the Indian Censor Board and was never released. In 2004 he wrote and directed, Black Friday and No Smoking. In 2007, after he made Return of Hanuman, he directed two films in 2009, Dev. D. and Gulaal.
Dev. D written and directed by Kashyap was based on Sarat Chandra Chattapandhyas’s classic Bengali novel Devdas, previously adopted by other renowned filmmakers. Dave. D was described as taking a new path in Hindi Cinema.
That Girl in Yellow Boots begins with a girl, Ruth (Kalki Koechlin) who was born to a non-Indian mother and Bengali father, looking for her roots in India. She arrived in India after receiving a letter from her father who abandoned her family when she was a little girl.
She arrived in Bombay on her own and tried to extend her tourist visa. From immigration onwards she faces numerous difficulties due to corruption and underworld threats. Ruth was able to find work in a massage clinic to earn a living and shared a room with her drug addicted boyfriend Prakash (Prashant Prakash) who had connection with the underworld drug dealers who always had a sharp eye for white skinned girl and robbed her savings. Her ultimate effort of searching her father ended up in an unexpected realization. She was angry and sad to identify the man as her father. Her final question was “Why did you write that letter to me?”
Actress Kalki Koechlin was born in a small village in Pondecherry in India to French parents who arrived in India 38 years ago. She spoke Tamil before French and moved to London, England and studied drama and theatre at the Goldsmith University. After completing her studies she moved back to Mumbai and learned Hindi before the audition for her role of Chandramuhi in Anurag Kashyap’s Dave D.
In 2010 she was awarded the prestigious Filmfare Award for best supporting actress for her role she played as Chandramukhi. Kalki and appeared with Imran Khan for a Coca Cola advertisement and voted the best of the IPL by the Times of India Advertisement Awards.
She won The Hindu Metro Plus Playwright Award in 2009 along with Prashant Prakash for their co-authored entry The Skeleton Woman.
