‘I NEEDED TO LIVE LIFE A BIT’

Deepika Padukone talks about why she didn’t go on a signing spree despite the mega success of Padmaavat

Surely, it has been one of her most challenging parts till date. And Deepika Padukone gleefully sunk her teeth into the feisty role of queen Padmavati, in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat (2018). Despite the fact that her performance as well as the film earned a lot of praise — besides box office moolah — she zeroed in on a new film (Chhapaak that’s based on the life of acid attack survivor, Laxmi Agarwal) only towards the end of 2018.

Ask Deepika if such heavyduty parts take a toll on her, and she says: “Yes, I think that’s why even though there was so much to celebrate post the release of Padmaavat, I think somewhere, as a human being, I felt I had to recharge emotionally (smiles). I needed to live life a bit. And that’s exactly what I did last year — so I just sort of replenished, touched base with normal things and went about things in an organic manner.”

But by now, has she — as an actor — developed some kind of a formula/code that can make her life easier? “Strangely, there is no science, proven formula or set pattern to it. With every new film or character, you discover it and then, things unfold on their own. I don’t think you can plan such things. You kind of know what you want to do with a character and so, you can prep a lot but until one goes on the sets and actually experience it, you don’t get the hang of it,” she says.

Deepika feels that an actor’s process to decode his/her character “will always be different” in every film. “Surely, you can have a broad idea or [character] sketch of what you think your part is going to be like. Your director, of course, will also have a say in it. But I think it takes a couple of days for things to sort of find their form. But the method won’t be the same in every film,” says the actor, adding that to portray Padmavati, she had to find her way through silences.

“I had to bring out her steely resolve and grit without saying or doing much [physically] and lead an entire side to victory. Of course, that ‘victory’ was in a completely different sense, which we would not endorse or celebrate today. But that’s how the celebration at that time culminated. Coming back to a part’s intricacies, in Bajirao Mastani (2015), I go to the battlefield with a sword in hand but for Padmavati, it was like a silent war. If I have a knife or a sword in hand, my emotions are easily understood versus me trying to portray it through silences,” says Deepika.

And lastly, is it true that she herself was shocked after going through the look test for Chhapaak. “I won’t use the word shocked but we still have a long way to go,” she says with a smile.

Ever since your marriage, talks have been rife about you changing your surname. The buzz is also that Ranveer Singh will alter his surname, which you also jokingly referred to in an interview.It’s not true. In fact, after that interview I realised that it’s a conversation Ranveer and I’ve never even had. So, we haven’t been like, ‘oh, do you think you should change your surname?’ That [chat about it in an interview] was, of course, a candid joke of sorts. It has never crossed either of our minds. When I was asked about it, I was like, ‘oh, we haven’t even thought about it’. Maybe because it’s not important. Also, I’ve worked extremely hard to create my own identity and so has he. So, my question is, ‘why would he have to do that?’ I think what people see of us is a very minuscule part of our entire being and existence. But at the core of it, we are very alike.