Travel cult classic Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) turned 15 yesterday, and Natasha Arora, the fiancée audiences loved to argue about, continues to spark conversations. Kalki Koechlin doesn’t defend the character’s flaws. Instead, she believes those very imperfections made Natasha memorable. She shares, “I don’t think she is a perfect character. I do think she is a problematic character,” adding, “Natasha absolutely stands up for herself. If she’s not okay with something, she says so and decides not to be with her fiancé. So, absolutely, she takes control of her life. That’s what makes the character lovable. Even though she’s quite insane, you understand where she’s coming from.”Beyond the character’s personality, Kalki admits Natasha also left an imprint on her personal style. She says, “What I took from Natasha is my sense of style. She was always outfitted so well. I felt good in those clothes. There’s a certain personality… your spine straightens up when you wear certain clothes.”If Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara were made today…On the topic of why Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara has endured, Kalki reaches for a broader thesis about friendship on screen. She says, “I think a lot of films about friendship really stand the test of time. There’s something about friendship that really sticks because it’s what carries us through all the ups and downs. You marry, divorce, have a child, lose a parent… and when all these things happen, only a few friends see you through all those stages. Your friends are almost like a mirror to the person you become.”Asked what a present-day version of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara might explore, she says, “Maybe if it were made today, it would be about three girlfriends going on a trip, and the boys are having trouble with control.”‘In Spain, we could just be ourselves’Apart from Natasha, what has stayed with Kalki are memories of shooting in Spain and the anonymity it offered even actors of the scale of Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif. She recalls, “We had these huge film stars like Hrithik and Katrina in a completely foreign country. When we do promotions here, or when we shoot or go for a screening, there is security, crowds shouting their names and people asking for selfies. But in Spain, it was different. We walked on the cobbled streets and nobody bothered us. Everybody sat around the water fountain in the middle of the city. It was wonderful that we could simply be ourselves and not worry about the personas around us.” Describing Spain as a leveller for the entire team, she adds, “It made everybody more accessible to each other. We weren’t hiding in our vanity vans, which tends to be the case when we’re shooting in Mumbai or elsewhere in India.”
Fifteen years on, Natasha Arora remains one of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’s most talked-about characters. Kalki Koechlin believes Natasha’s flaws, honesty and refusal to stay in a relationship that no longer worked made her memorable, proving that imperfect characters often leave the strongest impression on audiences.
‘There is a comfort in having women around when doing an intimate scene’One of the things Kalki admires most about Zoya Akhtar’s filmmaking is her ability to find humour in life’s awkward moments, even amid emotional turmoil. She says, “Zoya is particularly good at comic timing and at writing it into the script itself. She has a knack for finding those awkward moments and building them into the story. So, even in a serious scene, there’s always a touch of awkward comedy, and I really love that. The characters may be dealing with serious problems, but sometimes humour wins. Life is also like that. It’s never just one emotion. You’re not only sad; you’re also happy, angry and frustrated.”
