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Dream girl

photo: Sandeep Saxena

Pretty and poised Deepika Padukone walked the ramp for the Fiama Di Wills show at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week

Deepika Padukone merges the zest of a school girl and the elegance of a film star. She slides in slender and towering at 5’9”. Stunning in a black halter top and a pair of jeans, a couple of inches of heels accentuating her height, she chats effusing an easy charm and an abbreviated giggle.

Om Shanti Om with Shah Rukh Khan opened new vistas for her and a year later, Deepika has had three releases and has three more in her repertoire.

However, she says it was never a journey without hassles. “It is unfair to say I had it easy … that I got into films after just two years of modelling,” she says. “I know I have worked really hard. Different people have to undergo different kinds of struggle. I must have done something right,” Deepika adds.

The daughter of the legendary badminton ace Prakash Padukone, Deepika was always given the freedom to choose what is right for her.

“I played badminton till I was in class ten, then took a break for my boards. Later I realised I didn’t want to play badminton as a profession. My parents were supportive,” says Deepika. Now on her own – flitting through cities, signing movies, doing commercials, walking the ramp – Deepika remembers her childhood in Bangalore.

“Even though my parents were working, they dropped me to school, picked me up for badminton classes…in fact, they took me to all the different classes I was attending,” she recalls. Though now it takes the “effort of taking a flight” to go home, Deepika loves that effort. “It is important for me to be in touch with people with whom I began and be with family. They keep me grounded,” she says.

Modelling may have snowballed into movies, that too to a resounding blockbuster, but Deepika keeps her aspirations realistic. “I am just a little more than a year old in movies. I am still learning. I never planned that I will star opposite SRK, but I enjoyed it. It is important to set realistic targets.” However, she adds with a chuckle, “Om Shanti Om is yet to sink in.” Quiz her on the relatively tepid Bachna Ae Haseeno and Chandni Chowk to China that followed and Deepika says, “Om Shanti Om made history. Every film can’t make history. Even the audience has to keep in mind that only a few films can be a super hit,” she says.

But Deepika is excited about the films in hand. Apart from Imitiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal with Saif Ali Khan slated for this June, she will appear opposite Farhan Akhtar in Kartik calling Kartik. “I am also doing a comedy with Akshay Kumar,” she adds. “Love Aaj Kal is a very real film in terms of relationships. It will appeal to all age-groups, be it the young, middle-aged and the old.” “I play Meera, a today’s girl who wants to be independent. But somewhere the values we grow up with make us want to get married and balance both,” Deepika talks about her role.

With Farhan Akhtar’s movies exploring different sensibilities, Deepika is keen onKartik calling Kartik. “I play a bold character, not in the sense of skin show and bold scenes. I am a lot free with myself in the film, confident is the right word,” she says.

Ask her if she is caught in a web of glamorous roles, Deepika reacts, “I never understood this concept. If you wear makeup you become glamorous and the moment you take off your makeup, you become a serious actor. I am new to the industry and trying different movies.

The roles offered have the potential to show my acting ability as well, which has never been questioned.”

Deepika has broken into the bastion of families in Bollywood successfully. “Imran, Ranbir, Sonam and I started at the same time. I am not taking away any credit from them. But it was a little simpler for them as they had the backing of a family that has been there and done that. For me, it has been about making on my own.”

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