Actress Kalki Koechlin, currently engaged with multiple film projects, has shed light on significant challenges actors face on Bollywood sets. In a candid conversation, she addressed the persistent issues of language barriers and hurried production schedules that often compromise the quality of Hindi cinema.
The Double-Edged Sword of Script Translation
In an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Kalki was asked to respond to fellow actor Radhika Apte's recent remarks about being tired of bad scripts. Apte had expressed frustration at being expected to bring her 'A' game to fix narrative inconsistencies. Koechlin emphatically agreed, pinpointing two core problems.
The first, she explained, is fundamentally a language issue. "A lot of people write the script in English and then translate it into Hindi," Kalki revealed. This process, however, is far from seamless. "Something gets lost in translation, and suddenly the dialogue sounds more formal and less spoken," she added, highlighting how this practice strips away the natural flow of everyday conversation.
The actress, famous for her role in 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani', described a common and frustrating scenario for performers. An actor might receive and connect with an English version of the script, only to be handed a Hindi translation weeks later that feels completely alien. "It sounds nothing like it," Kalki stated, noting that the actor is then left with the arduous task of trying to re-naturalize the dialogue during performance.
The Culture of Rush and Improvisation
Kalki Koechlin identified the second major hurdle as the pervasive culture of rush in filmmaking. She pointed out that sufficient script drafts are often unavailable because productions are in a hurry to begin shooting. "Everyone is improvising since they want to start rolling as soon as possible," she observed, suggesting this haste leads to a lack of preparation and polish.
However, the actress also acknowledged notable exceptions to this trend. She cited her project 'Goldfish' as a positive example, praising it for being "very text-based and very specific about language." Unfortunately, Kalki noted that such meticulous writers who prioritize the script are "few and far between" in the current industry landscape.
Kalki's Current Projects and Ventures
Beyond this insightful critique, Kalki Koechlin remains busy with a slate of new work. She was recently seen in the paranormal investigative series 'Bhay: The Gaurav Tiwari Mystery', which premiered on an OTT platform on December 12, 2025. The show, also starring Karan Tacker, explores the life of India's first paranormal investigator.
Looking ahead, the actress has 'Her Song' in the pipeline and is reportedly currently filming for another project titled 'Love Affair'. Her continued work across diverse genres underscores her active and evolving career in the entertainment industry.
