'Unlike many others of her age and in her position - image conscious, hesitant to reveal more than their carefully crafted public relations spin would have you see - she is intent on being perceived as honest. This rawness is integral to who Deepika is. The equation is simple for her: Since she cannot feign affection or establish subsistence-level niceties, it is necessary to seduce, and fall in love with, everyone. "There comes a time when I give myself so completely to the role that it becomes necessary. I am the character. And I must, in that process, fall in love with everyone I work with," she says. (...) Barely six years into the film industry, she is now an actor with Rs 700 crore riding on her. She has signed 11 top-end endorsement deals. (...) She has starred in three box-office blockbusters this year alone:
Race 2 (Rs 110 crore),
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (Rs 184.79 crore), and
Chennai Express (Rs 218.29 crore). She is on the cusp of a fourth hit with
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's [
Goliyon Ki Raasleela]
Ram-Leela. (...)
Finding herself
Daughter of badminton champion Prakash Padukone, Deepika began modelling at eight. Her mother Ujjala Padukone, 55, says she always wanted to be number one at whatever she did but her new-found balance has astounded even the parents. "She's got her meticulousness from me, and the ability to tackle success from her father. But the sheer maturity with which she handles her career surprises us every day," Ujjala says. More so because, for a while in between, everyone thought she'd lost the plot. She rode the initial euphoria of the dream launch in
Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008) and
Love Aaj Kal (2009), but failed to capitalise on it. She struggled from
Karthik Calling Karthik in 2010 to
Desi Boyz in 2011, picking either bad roles or good roles in films that did badly. The tabloids referred to her as Ranbir Kapoor's current or ex - tags that seemed to gain precedence over any others that she could find at the time.
Towards the end of 2011, something suddenly changed. (...) Deepika has found her craft, and by extension, she's found herself. Shortly after her split with Ranbir, she bought a new sea-facing home in the heart of Mumbai's Prabhadevi area on the 26th floor of BeauMonde apartments. (...) The gated high-rise is not the typical choice for film stars, who usually live in Bandra or Juhu. Here, Deepika is the girl-next-door. She bumps into neighbours in the elevator or at the pool area. "I love the smells and sounds and feel of home," she says. Its gold walls, red velvet sofa, mahogany panelling and brass coffee tables (...) underline where she comes from. "Maturity is not becoming a different person, it's accepting the person you have always been in your core," she says. Ram-Leela director Bhansali sums up her friendly but elusive dream girl persona with his inimitable poetic flourish. "She is beautiful, graceful but pungent. Her face perched on that swan-like neck. She is colour. She is fire."
Love's lessons
Once someone enters Deepika's world, it is hard to exit. This perhaps springs from her self-professed "desperate need to be loved". "I cannot stand conflict and I will do anything to get past it," she says. (...) It's a remark that explains why she mends relationships with a vengeance. Deepika has stayed friends with all exes, and continues to work with them. (...) "When you're in a relationship, you take so much from each other. I believe people come into your life for a reason," she says. She describes Ranbir as a "positive influence" and adds that her relationships have changed her in small ways, making her more certain of what she wants in a partner. "But it's not like I keep a checklist. That would be like grocery shopping for a mate," she says. All she once dreamed of was a man who would be tall, dark, and handsome. Today, someone who is genuine and honest is the key.
Ask about her Ram-Leela co-star Ranveer Singh and she says the world has a problem with a man and a woman hanging out. "Every dinner date isn't a relationship. Feelings take time to develop, and the world does not give actors that time," she says, before hastening to add, "I have never met anyone quite like Ranveer in the industry though. He's so true to himself, so unaffected. He has also been a very positive influence in my life. He does his own thing, I do mine." Make of that statement whatever you will. (...)
World in her stride
Deepika's confidence is borne out of holding her failures as dear as her successes. She takes good natured ribbing about less successful roles in her stride.
Chandni Chowk to China (2009), she admits, was "disastrous" but her action sequences from the film have still made it to her showreel. "Why do you need a showreel at all?" asks director Homi Adajania, with whom she is shooting
Finding Fanny, and who has overheard snatches of the conversation. "Hollywood jaana hai na (I have to go to Hollywood, after all)," Deepika replies naughtily. (...)
The role that Deepika most identifies with is Naina from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani - socially awkward as a child, conventional in her beliefs. "If I were to break out, that is the way in which I would," she says, referring to Naina's post-intermission transformation. Roles that personify who she is at heart, her life, and her struggles are the ones she best identifies with. "Women come up to me after my films and tell me that they can connect with me," she says. "This feedback has become vital for me - this link with them, and with myself".'
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