Kalki played a young woman who turns to prostitution, after a leaked sex tape scandal in Dev D (2009), an adaptation of Devdas. The character was based on the prostitute Chandramukhi in the novel.
Kalki played the role of Amrita Jayshankar aka Amy, a disturbed teenager who turns to drugs and booze, brilliantly in Bejoy Nambiar's 2011 black-comedy, Shaitaan.Kalki aced the character of the British woman named Ruth, who travels to Mumbai in search of her father in Anurag Kashyap's 2011 film, That Girl in Yellow Boots.Kalki was seen as an interior designer in Zoya Akhtar's 2011 buddy road film, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. She apparently took diction classes for the role which required her to speak accented Hindi.Kalki played the role of an aspiring dancer in the 2011 Sanjay Leela Bhansali-produced comedy My Friend PintoProbably the most out of her comfort zone, Kalki Koechlin depicted the rich tomboy brat in Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani (2013).Kalko appeared in a All India Bakchod video, It's Your Fault, in 2013, which dealt with the issue of sexual assaults on women. The video mocked the mindset that blames women for provoking rapes.Kalki was amazing as Laila, a young woman with cerebral palsy, who leaves her home in India to study in New York, falls in love, and embarks on a journey of self-discovery, in Margarita with a Straw.Kalki played a brash social media-savvy girl in Anu Menon's Waiting (2015), a relationship drama about two people who befriend each other in a hospital, while nursing their respective comatose spousesKalki played Mimi, a Kolkata-based Anglo-Indian woman, who seduces a younger disturbed teenager in Konkana Sen's A Death in the Gunj (2016). She trained in anglo-indian accent to prepare for her role.Kalki costarred with Richa Chadda in Jia Aur Jia (2017), a road film that focused on two strangers of the same name, who embark on a road trip together.Kalki was seen as an evolving musician from Berklee College, Shweta 'Sky' Mehta, who helps out the lead character in Ranveer Singh's hugelu successful 2019 drama, Gully Boy.Koechlin will next feature, alongside Ali Fazal and Gulshan Devaiah, in Soni Razdan's upcoming film, Love Affair, a fictionalised version of the 1959 Nanavati murder case.Kalki Koechlin, who speaks fluent Tamil because of her early days in Pondy, will be making her Tamil debut in Ajith's Nerkonda Paarvai. She will be making a special appearance in the EDM song.