Discreet Deepika
ANUJ KUMAR
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In the days of a Bollywood obsessed with telling all, Deepika Padukone insists she knows where to draw the line.
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Photo: Sandeep Saxena
Lady in red Deepika Padukone has her father to thank for remaining grounded
While talking to Deepika Padukone, Nietzsche’s words — women’s modesty generally increases with their beauty — keep rushing back and forth in mind and at some point you begin to feel the opposite might be true. The young lady comes across as so detached from the hustle and bustle of the glamour world that you begin to tell yourself it can’t be rehearsed. Not for so long…she was the same withdrawn Deepika during her modelling days. She is still the same politically-correct girl, who, after winning all the attention on the ramp would go to a quiet corner with her soft drink…somebody, who will answer missed calls even when the show is about to begin.
“I got my lessons watching my father. I have not achieved even a slice of what he managed during his career as a badminton player. I look up to him,” she offers. Isn’t it different and more difficult in the glamour world? “It is. There is an easy way to get drowned in all the hype that surrounds you and then there is a little difficult route. But it is wrong to generalise about the entertainment industry. There have been actors like Madhuri Dixit who led a very normal life off-screen and left the industry at the peak of her career to marry a doctor. I still lead a very normal lifestyle. I make sure not to talk about or get competitive about the number of endorsements I am doing…my figure size or share details about the fitness instructor I go to,” says Deepika.
Some things must be said
But she does talk about her boyfriend, Ranbir Kapoor. “It is a decision I took because I didn’t want the gossip mongers to go wild. I want to be honest about the fact that there is a man in my life and by accepting it, you show respect to the person you are with. At the same time I believe there can’t be bigger disrespect for the person if you begin to share details of your relationship with the media.”
Is it safe to disclose the man in your life to the audience? “Our audience has learnt to distinguish between on and off screen.”
Love and its expression is being analysed all over again as her “Love Aaj Kal” is ready for release later this month. “The film says though the basic emotions remain the same, the expression has changed over the years.” Do her parents also say it was different in their days? “Not them but I have come across many older couples who say love was purer in their days. I feel because this generation is too busy with careers, it realises the emotional aspect of love a bit late in life. As for the physical aspect, I am sure the older generation was also up to something!” she quips but in the same vein adds, “I am a little traditional, who believes love happens only once, and in the sanctity of the institution of marriage.”
She must have found it difficult working with Neetu Singh (Ranbir’s mother), who is making a comeback with “Love Aaj Kal”. “No, no, don’t forget we are professional actors. Anyway, we don’t share any scene in the film.”
Pressure point
There must have been pressure from Kareena Kapoor’s statement that she wanted to play the lead role in the film directed by Imtiaz Ali, the man who turned the tide for her with “Jab We Met” and produced by her beau Saif Ali Khan, who also plays the lead. “Not at all! Imtiaz offered the film before ‘Om Shanti Om’ and we started working on it before ‘Jab We Met’ got released. He has always said only Deepika could be his Meera.”
Deepika says the character is very much like the real her. “At the first reading when he introduced Meera to me I thought he was talking about me. Like me, she is practical and emotional at the same time.” She makes it a point to tell you that playing Meera was not a cakewalk. “A shade of her was too complex for me to emote…like the way she dances on the road and on the table after getting drunk.”
Having made her way through some stiff competition, which includes some star kids as well, you expect Deepika to believe in the concept of being at the right place at the right time. She denies it. “I feel luck plays little role. You make your own luck. If you have the confidence in your talent, it drives you to learn more.” Picture perfect, isn’t it!
Between the lines
In Delhi to promote Tissot watches, Deepika says she learnt time management when she was a sportsperson. “Time is money for me but I want to keep the spontaneity going…like I won’t blink to decide where to spend a two-day off.”
Does Saina Nehwal’s success remind her of what she could have been? “She deserves it. I am still passionate about badminton but I decided quite early that it could not be my career.”
She has worked with mostly older heroes — Shah Rukh, Akshay and Saif — till date and is now working with Farhan Akhtar in “Karthik Calling Karthik” followed by “Houseful” with Akshay again. “There is so much to learn and none of them takes himself too seriously. Akshay and Saif shared how they could have handled the initial years of their career better.”
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