Deepika is ‘feeling blessed’

Padukone says the response to Padmaavat, which entered the ₹300crore club last week, has been overwhelming

For me, the box office collections are only an indication of how much love the film has received. DEEPIKA PADUKONE,

ACTOR

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat has been a winner in more ways than one — critically as well as commercially. The film got its actors unstinted praise from all quarters, and it is possibly the first Hindi film with a woman in the title role (the film was originally titled Padmavati) — to enter the ₹300-crore club.

Padmaavat entered the coveted club last week, joining films such as Dangal (2016), PK (2014), Sultan (2016), Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017). Deepika, who has received loads of appreciation and critical acclaim for her outing as Rajput queen Padmavati in the film, is “extremely happy” about the latest development.

The actor feels the movie could pave the way for woman-led films in Indian cinema. “I feel blessed to be associated with a film that has created history in so many ways. For me, the box office collections are only an indication of how much love the film has received. The response has been beyond overwhelming, and Iam grateful to

Sanjay sir for entrusting me yet again with [the responsibility of playing] Padmavati,” says Deepika, who has worked with Bhansali in Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013) and Bajirao Mastani (2015) as well.

Deepika feels Padmaavat also makes one “feel proud to be a woman”. She says, “I don’t know what I can attribute it to, but I feel somewhere, towards the end of the film, it does make you feel something. It makes you feel powerful, strong and alive, and that gives you an immense amount of passion and pride for being a woman. I don’t really know the sense of ownership and protectiveness that people are feeling; I don’t know where it is coming from, but I am feeling it for sure,” she says.