‘Only the film and content drives me’

Deepika Padukone’s (left) last Bollywood film, Bajirao Mastani, hit theatres on December 18, 2015, and her next Hindi film, Padmavati, will release after almost exactly two years on December 15. However, the actor isn’t even thinking about it.

“I hadn’t even thought about it until you asked me the question. The only thing that drives me is the film itself and the content. I didn’t think that if I do Padmavati after Bajirao Mastani, it’s going to release after two years,” she says.

Interestingly, 2015 saw three of Deepika’s films hitting theatres. “When I do three films in one year, I don’t think, ‘oh my God, I have three films in a year, or if it’s going to hurt my career’. Two years ago, when I had three back-to-back releases, what if those films hadn’t done well? It could have damaged my career, but I didn’t think about it at that point,” she says.

Reiterating that “things” aren’t in her control, Deepika says she never lets such things affect her. “All of it — when the films will happen, how long they will take to be made, or when it is going to release — isn’t in my control. I can only reflect on what happened in the past and think, ‘oh my God, in 2013, I had four releases. And in 2015, I had three releases’. I can only think about what has happened, but I can’t really predict what is going to happen in the future. I don’t think of those things.”

When I do three films in one year, I don’t think, ‘oh my God, I have three films in a year, or if it’s going to hurt my career’. DEEPIKA PADUKONE, ACTOR