Interview: Deepika Padukone
By: Simran Mody, India Correspondent
Another movie, another persona.
It seems like one of Bollywood’s fastest rising stars is not only finding a way to be featured alongside an A-list leading man, but Deepika Padukone also managed to assume a new role with each film like most people go through personal undergarments.
When Karthik Calling Karthik releases on February 26th, Padukone will be playing the risqué urban girl who enjoys partaking in debauchery while tip-toeing the line of what is considered acceptable behavior for a classy woman.
Such a role is different from her bubbly, girl-next-door character in Om Shanti Om, her independent woman persona in Bachna Ae Haseeno, or her kick-ass model/ninja dual role in Chandni Chowk to China.
In portraying Shonali Mukherjee in a manner that is vastly different from her other leading roles, Padukone told the press, in a recent interview, that she is making every effort to be as diverse as possible, all in an effort to connect with the moviegoer.
“Yes, (my performance) in Karthik Calling Karthik (was) meant to be very real and relatable. I too had to adapt to a different acting style, which was quite a task, actually, because I was also working on Housefull around the same time,” Padukone admitted about balancing her role as Shonali and filming for her upcoming project Housefull. “The genre of Housefull is such where there had to be a lot more enthusiasm in my performance. On the other hand, Karthik Calling Karthik is a little understated.”
Of course, labeling Karthik Calling Karthik as “a little understated” is, well, a little understated for Padukone, who says this film deviates from the norm of the prototypical Bollywood film – itself a normal characteristic of Hindi cinema nowadays.
“If you take my last release Love Aaj Kal, it wasn’t really the sort of film where there was a quintessential heroine and hero. It was treated entirely different,” she admitted to the press. “Besides that, the fact is that the kinds of films which are being made are not what used to be made, say, ten years ago.”
To that end, Padukone also told reporters the role of the leading lady has dramatically changed in Bollywood, opining actresses bring a lot more depth to Indian film than in years past.
“I can speak for myself for sure that I won’t be seen as a part of a film just for a song-and-dance routine,” she humbly pointed out in her chat with the press. “I guess most would agree that today, when a girl is brought into a film, she is there for adding much more to the plot and narrative than just the glamour quotient.”
Padukone hopes her depth and diversity are on full display when Karthik Calling Karthik hits the big screen this weekend, all while making the flick filmy and glamorous enough to attract fans to her movie instead of Teen Patti.
