If people want to create controversy about the azaan, they will: Kalki Koechlin

Actor feels religious cacophony is growing by the day

Actor Kalki Koechlin recently came up with a very powerful video, titled Noise, slamming the amount of noise pollution people face on a day-to-day basis. Speaking with Spotboye recently, she shed light on the various aspects that led to her finally coming out in the open about the enormous amount of noise she faces every day.



When asked where the idea of this short film or rather slam poetry come from, she said, “Well, from the amount of noise that is all around us. The poem starts with 'I used to live in a noisy neighbourhood', and that neighbourhood is Yari Road. I lived in Yari road, and it's very noisy. There is a temple, a mosque, a church, there are the fishmongers, then there is crazy traffic, and digging of roads, which is always going on. So it's a lot of noise which is always there. I wanted to talk about the overwhelming amount of noise.”

In the recent past we have seen celebrities getting into controversies because they voiced their opinion on the azaan and other religious noises. Does Kalki feel she might also have to face such a situation after this video?  “I think if people are looking for controversy they will find it,” she stated.



Whether she feels the religious cacophony is rampant because of the close proximity of Holy places, Kalki said, “Yes it is. We have a lot of religious noise, especially in a country with so many people and with so many different belief systems. But yes, in our country it is expressed in a particularly loud way.” She added, “It's not a criticism to the fact that we have all this noise. It's just that sometimes one needs to switch off from all the noise in order to listen to oneself. It's the noise of our phones, the noise of social media, the noise of news, the noise of different people’s opinions that we just accept without questioning. So without questioning ourselves, without being silent and without internalizing who we are and what we feel we just start making noise.”

During her initial days in showbiz, she used to get upset over negative reviews, criticism and social media trolls. However, after surviving in the industry for over a decade, the Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani star has now become a "veteran" when it comes to handling comments and compliments. "I used to get affected by it (being in limelight) when I started my career. I used to get upset about criticism or a troll. Even if I used to get a thousand compliments, I only used to remember that one comment that criticised me. Somewhere it's human nature, we all tend to do that,” IANS quoted her as saying.



She now takes criticism and praise in the same way. “I look at them in a constructive way, something that can help me learn and evolve.” Being in the acting profession, Kalki likes to maintain a balance between her professional and personal life. "Personally, I believe in the law of Newton. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So, you can't appreciate silence without noise. I want to be out there in the limelight and get my work seen. But I also value my time alone or with family. I like to have a balance of both."

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