TO GET CHARACTER OUT OF SYSTEM, BURNT A PIECE OF MASK: DEEPIKA
And, to the get character out of her system, she burnt a piece of her prothetic mask
Deepika Padukone says her upcoming film Chhapaak has been her toughest and most emotionally taxing project till date. Directed by Meghna Gulzar, the film is based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agrawal, played by Deepika and also stars Vikrant Massey.
Speaking at a session at Jio MAMI Movie Mela with Star, Deepika said until Chhapaak she thought doing a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film was emotionally difficult. “With him it’s not just about the character or the film, but everything that goes in making it, all the hurdles. So by the end of it you are exhausted for various reasons. With ‘Chhapaak’, the process was exhausting. We had to get the prosthetics done for like three hours and another hour to take it off. Emotionally, I have never been as burnt out as I felt after that,” she said.
Deepika, who turns producer with the project, also shared how she got the character out of her system. “On the last day I asked Meghna to get made an extra piece. We got that, only for me to burn it at pack up. It was a hospital scene, we finished that and I took off my face (prosthetic), had a shower, took this extra piece, went to a corner, threw alcohol on it and burnt it. I watched it burn and stood there as I needed to see it burn completely. I wanted everything to become ash. I stood there till that entire process was over and only then felt a part of it had left my system, my body. But it’s not entirely possible as none of these characters leave your system. As of now, this has been the toughest film I’ve done,” she added.
When film critic and moderator Anupama Chopra asked if the actor has decided to do a romantic film next, Deepika said, “I have found a film that I am likely to do early next year, but it’s not light. It’s quite dark but still in the romance space.”
Deepika will also have a special appearance in Kabir Khan’s ’83. The film will see her essay the role of Romi Dev, wife to cricketing legend Kapil Dev (played by Ranveer Singh), to be played by her real-life husband Ranveer Singh. Deepika, who has featured with Ranveer in three films — Ram-Leela, Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat — said they don’t bring their personal equation to sets. “If you see Ranveer and I on set, we are very different than what we are otherwise. We may not even sometimes drive together because we are in a different head space. It’s not on purpose. There’s no expectation of behaving like husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend when you’re working. On ’83, I’m not thinking whether he’s my husband as there’s so much to think about in that moment, the scenes, the lines. Your mind is occupied and you’re performing like your character and all those things come into play,” she added.