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The Reigning Queen Deepika Padukone On Learning, Loving and Looking Beyond
Langorous legs, a sinuously sexy smile, an athletic body that is beyond hour-glass perfect… Add to that a calm, pure soul, a deep intellect, and eyes that seek honesty in all it purviews… Deepika Padukone is not just a superstar courtesy her hits, but in the real sense a star who crosses the cinema galaxy once in a very rare, blue moon.
Deepika was a winner the moment she was discovered and catapulted onto the ramp. Once there, the world of fashion marvelled at her persona that sparkled like a million bulbs coming alive. She stayed there for a very short, eventful time, until, lo and behold, she was hand-picked to play a role opposite Shah Rukh Khan. She arrived on the Bollywood scene like the veritable icing on the cake, acting opposite a superstar whom she matched perfectly, frame by scintillating frame. The rest, as they say, is history.
In her acting career, Deepika has pushed her emoting, expressing prowess to new boundaries with each release. Versatility is the cornerstone of her work trajectory. Yes, she has done the ‘run around the trees’ routine for commercial success, however, with that stereotype has simultaneously emerged Deepika, the woman with a voice. For every Chennai Express there has been a Chhapaak, a Piku or a Housefull. Time and again, she has been sought out to play roles of historically-powerful women. Padmavati, the gutsy Maharani, Mastani who helped Bajirao in his warfare, and Leela in Ram-Leela, in which love triumphs even in death. Deepika has done justice to all these roles.
It is in these movies that also emerges the sheer joie and chemistry shared by her and her now husband, Ranveer Singh. Bollywood’s Couple No. 1, Deepika-Ranveer are quite the duo. For every deep emotion in Deepika, there is a crazy Ranveer move; for each of her pensive thoughts, there is a bid to sweep her off her feet with his wit. For every low that Deepika feels, there is a high that Ranveer peps her up with. Yes, for Deepika — shy, reticent, and also deep — Ranveer is like an adrenaline rush.
A muse, a voice, a powerful woman, self-made and proud to have stormed the bastion of an alleged parochial industry, Deepika sparkles down to her soul and is on her way to become India’s most legendary star. This year will be special for her in so many ways with her working simultaneously in five big movies. For her, even the sky does not seem the limit.
ON BEING A SUPERSTAR
“Honestly, I don’t consider myself a superstar; I don’t feel like one. I don’t feel any different from anyone else. In my mind, I feel like any other girl who has been fortunate enough to have the love and support of her family to be able to do the things that she loves doing, and something that she always wanted to do. Along the way, I’ve had opportunities and I’ve worked hard and made sacrifices, and I am where I am. So, I don’t and can’t view myself as anything but a regular girl. That is probably a question maybe my parents or someone in my family or my friends would be able to answer better. I now look back at life with gratitude. I’d say the only difference is I was 16 then and I am 35 now, but I still wake up wanting to make my parents proud, wanting to achieve my personal and professional goals with that same passion and enthusiasm.”
ON REALISING SHE WANTED TO BE AN ACTOR
Her dad, Prakash Padukone, was a badminton champion, and she also played the sport early in her years. While playing badminton for her would have been an obvious choice, she opted to be an actor. “I was playing professional badminton in school until I was 16, and even represented the state. But then I think as you start getting into high school, you start reflecting on what you want to do with your life and that is when I started realising that sports was not something wanted to pursue for the rest of my life. At that point, I also had enough exposure to other curricular activities like modelling, dancing, music in our school, and knew I wanted to be in the arts. When I took a break from badminton to prepare for my board exams, it was a good transition period. I don’t think my parents were shocked or surprised either, because, right from childhood, they had seen where my interest was and had been supportive.”
The world marvelled at the way she admitted to fighting depression. It was like a superstar allowing you to gaze through her gilded armour. It made headlines and gave so much hope to many young, isolated souls floating silently through life saddled with the same predicament of the mind. The daughter of Prakash Padukone, India’s biggest badminton star, Deepika shows guts. She stands up for what she believes in.
ON THE NATURAL TRANSITION
“It’s a bit strange as I actually only wanted to be a model and had this clarity even as a young girl. I always knew that modelling was something I wanted to do, yet every time we watched a movie in the theatre and watched an actor on screen, I felt like that is me, and I could be that one day. I had a dream of becoming an actor, but my reality was being a model. It was like being a model in the daytime, and an actor at night. Without knowing how I was going to achieve it, and whether I was capable of it, it felt familiar. In fact, as soon as I had started modelling, I had started getting offers from some of the biggest producers. At that time, I wasn’t ready and turned down a couple of projects. But, by the time I was 19, Om Shanti Om happened. Farah (Khan) offered me the film; the rest is history.”
NEW YEAR, BIG PLANS
The new year is going be a special one for Deepika with five big films lined up, something like 2013, when she gave big hits like Ram-Leela and Chennai Express. So which role excites her the most? “That is like having five different children and being asked to choose one. I have always been someone who only says ‘yes’ to a project when it comes from my gut, and I know I have something special to offer as a character. So, it’s not like I planned it; in 2013, I remember people asked me, ‘Oh, did you plan four or five releases a year?’ No! When these films are written or offered to you, you never know how they will play out. These things are beyond your control, and I’ve had years when I’ve just had one or two releases. This year I am going to be doing five films. I think in some ways the pandemic panned out creatively because it was a time when people in the arts were writing and they were coming to me with stories I really connected with. By August/September, I knew what my line-up was for the next couple of months.
“So, I immediately started with Shakun Batra’s film, which is a relationship story that we haven’t seen in Indian cinema before. Then there is Pathan, an action film with Shah Rukh Khan, next is Nag Ashwin’s multilingual film with Prabhas. Then I am doing which is a remake of Anne Hathaway’s movie The Intern, which is so relevant in today’s times when you have the millennial and the older generation coming together. And then, the most famous story coming out of our country, Mahabharata, in which I am playing Draupadi; I want to tell that story to the world.
ON BEING VERSATILE
From playing roles like a glamour girl in Cocktail to playing a queen in Padmaavat, to being the daughter of an OCD-driven septuagenarian dad in Piku, she has perfected every role she plays, and never stereotyped herself. “That is because of the fear of being typecast, and I give myself credit for choosing the right scripts. I also give credit to the writers and directors who can see me in such a diverse way. Whether it’s Imtiaz (Ali), and Homi (Adajania), who can see me in roles in Love Aaj Kal and Cocktail, or someone like Shoojit (Sircar) who can see me in a Piku, and then you have someone like a (Sanjay) Bhansali who can see me in Padmaavat, there is Rohit Shetty who cast me in an outright comedy film. I give my writers and directors credit for seeing me in such varied ways and giving me opportunities. It truly is an actor’s dream, and I couldn’t have asked for more.”
ON BEING THE GIRL NEXT DOOR
Growing up in Bengaluru made Deepika a simple, grounded girl, who is also a total home bird. “Those were such beautiful idyllic days in Bangalore. I miss the simplicity. There is a sort of grounding and rootedness that I experienced growing up. Life out there is very simple, and it is how it is. People are who they are; what you see is what you get. People live within their means, and they are very happy and satisfied. I think I owe it all to my upbringing as I always wanted to make my parents proud and learnt to take responsibilities in life. So, my typical day is like anyone else’s, where I wake up and, sometimes, there is no water in the tap, or there’s some problem with the staff. It is like any other home or situation, which I handle on my own. That’s the way I have been brought up. I don’t know whether I do this intentionally or whether that is second nature to me, but including things like packing, unpacking, ordering groceries, managing the home and office—I do it all myself. And Ranveer keeps saying why do you want to get into it yourself, but I don’t know any other way of being. I am extremely hands-on with my home, with my staff and any other issue that one must deal with on a daily basis. I am very home proud and have worked hard. When I first came to Bombay, I did not have a roof over my head, and, worked hard enough to buy one. I know the sacrifices that I have made and the hard work I have put in to get where I am today. Managing a home is not a chore—it is something I enjoy doing. For instance, when I have people over, I don’t just get a party planner. I set the menu myself, serve home-cooked food because that’s how I have seen it with my mother; we are still very traditional.”
EARLY MENTORS
“Besides my parents, I’d say Anila Anand (producer), professionally. She is really the person responsible for introducing me to the modelling world and ensuring I did the right campaigns. Photographer Atul Kasbekar is another person who really took me under his wings and held my hand through the entire process. When I started off, my parents were doing everything, and the concept of an agency was absolutely alien to us in India. After the first meeting, Atul signed me up. My parents were thrilled because we never knew how to read contracts, or how to negotiate, so we welcomed all the help. And then, of course, some of it is also my own learning. I hit the ground running and learnt on the go, right from what one must do in front of the camera to everything that goes on behind the scenes—negotiations, money, contracts. We have also been taken for a ride and have made mistakes. Shah Rukh and Farah, from the time they decided that I was their gril, and they were going to launch me, have always looked after me. That emotion will never change. It has been 13 years since Om Shanti Om, and Shah Rukh still corrects me and is very protective. Farah is like my second mother. They both groomed me on how to conduct myself in front of the media, and presented me well, not just during the film, but also during marketing and promotion. The audiences take to certain pairings. For me, whether it is with Shah Rukh, Ranveer, or Ranbir, these pairings have become iconic. Chemistry is not something you can create, though certain films and characters are written a certain way, but at the end the two energies come together. It’s not on paper, sometimes magic just happens. And, fortunately, I have had it with a couple of them.”
ON MARRIAGE AND RANVEER
Deepika started Phase 2 of her life with Ranveer as her partner; they are amazing together and there is that certain aura of friendship and togetherness around them. He has that undeniable infectious energy. So, what attracted her to Ranveer? “Everybody talks about his energy but what most people don’t realise is that this is not who he is all the time. What attracted me to him was the fact is that we have been together for eight years and are still discovering each other. I think that is the beauty of our relationship. We started off not as lovers but close friends, who connected at some level, even though we are very different people. So, even today, I don’t think he knows everything about me, and I can’t say I know everything about him.”
What does she think of him as an actor? “As an actor, he is probable the best we’ve had in a really long time; his versatility is unmatched. I don’t think there’s any actor in the current generation who has his versatility. Very often you still see the actor in the character, but, when you see Ranveer play a role, there is an absolute transformation and I haven’t seen that in a long time. Professionally, whatever he’s achieved is there for everybody to see... But, at a personal level, he is all heart, and his sense of humour, his achievements, his versatility, his warmth are obvious. But, beneath all of that though, he is extremely childlike. Ranveer still lives in a bubble and, if he had a choice, he’d continue living in that bubble: of just being untouched, innocent, and with lots of love to give.”
Professionally, do they take advice from each other? “We talk about things, he’ll talk about his meetings, films that he has been offered. I’ll talk about things that I’ve been offered and am considering, but, we do not interfere in one another’s professional decisions. Of course, if he’s had a hard day or I’ve had a hard day or if things are not going well, or even if they are going well, we’ll definitely share with each other, talk and guide each other, but, at the end of the day, the final decision is one’s own.”
What binds them most? “I think food, to begin with. We both love eating and can keep eating all the time. I think it is also our love for home—both of us love being around family. The minute we have any time off, our priority is spending quality time with each other. We both love travelling. We love the sand, sun, and the sea. It would be a problem if one loved the mountains and the other loved the ocean, but, fortunately we are both water babies and love the ocean. We both also swim well and love water sports and enjoy doing this together.”
ON FIGHTING DEPRESSION
Behind Deepika’s effervescent personality, there’s also a deep-seated battle with depression, and she came out and spoke about it, helping many out there to not see it as a taboo and seek help. What made her take this bold step? “I didn’t think of it as a bold decision. I thought of it as being honest with feelings and emotions that I was dealing with, and felt it was important for me to share this with the world. I was dealing with it myself and realised the kind of stigma around it. I remember waking up one day and thinking: why are we dealing with it like this, why should I make sure that the media does not find out or doesn’t see me at a therapist’s clinic, why should my prescription not have my name on it? We have to come out and get treated. So that is one of the reasons, apart from being honest with my emotions. If I had to give a piece of advice, I’d say if you know you are struggling with mental or emotional illness, seek help. Acceptance is the first step. Just as we have physical illnesses, we can have mental illnesses as well.”
QUICK 5
Your dream role?
A beautiful love story.
One Hollywood actor or director you really want to work with?
Internationally, Damien Chazelle. He made La La Land.
Any passion that you want to pursue that you don’t get time to?
Learning to play the piano.
Your favourite dish?
Home-cooked South Indian food.
If you weren’t an actor, what would you be?
An interior designer or a homemaker—I’d love being a homemaker.
What is on top of your bucket list?
I want to go trekking, somewhere in India. I remember, a couple of years back, we had booked one, but it got cancelled as there was a landslide there.