Bollywood's in-house fashion diva: Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone has sailed through controversies very early in her career with enviable poise. She gives three things credit for being able to achieve the career heights she has today. “Confidence, believing in yourself and being an original person,” she says. From playing various shades on the silver screen to doing scintillating item numbers, she has established herself in the industry and is one Indian movie personality who is much talked about internationally.

Her success and beauty are unquestionably and much felicitated. Recently, she was honoured as one of the most beautiful women by a well known magazine and was asked to launch it. The actress, in her typical humble manner, thanks her parents for her beauty. She believes one must associate her personality with her rather than value her beauty which is superficial. She thinks that is a more valuable compliment.

“It feels special [to be called beautiful], it feels great but I’ve always believed I’ve got nothing to do with it," she says. "If you are talking about my physical beauty, then I have to only thank my parents for it. I have always said that it’s more important to be a good human being. I would like it better if people knew me or appreciated me for the person I am as that’s more valuable than a compliment, I feel.”

Humility and honesty is another gift this actress possesses. When asked who she thinks is the most beautiful person in the industry, she has no bias and thinks everyone is equally talented and beautiful. That’s why each one of them has their unique place in the industry.

“I think everybody is beautiful," she says. "Everybody in the industry is unique and special in their own way. Which is why I think we are all here. The industry is highly competitive and we all have special qualities, which is why we are all here today.”

Deepika has always made heads turn on the red carpet. Exquisite clothes coupled with her statesque beauty make her the toast of the evening. But she thinks she does not have a sense of style and is not tuned in to the trends. She says she has no clue about what's 'In' in terms of fashion or colours. Talking about the orange jumpsuit she was wearing for this interview, she says, "I am styled by Anaita Adajania-Shroff in an Alexander McQueen jumpsuit. Orange is my favourite colour and that's why I am wearing it. I don’t really know what colours are in, but I am someone who will always wear something that I’m comfortable with. I decide the colours that I would want to wear. The important thing is to keep it cool in summers and yet look stylish. I love putting my hair up at times, and am always open to experimenting with different styles. I just like to try out something new and different.”

With regards to her career, she talks about her next-in-line for release, the Ranbir Kapoor starrer ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’. She is confident about it as the day of judgement nears about the audience's reaction. “There is a lot of positive energy around the film,” she says “You know there are only just a few days left for the release and we are all very excited yet nervous about it. Ayan, Ranbir and I are very excited about the fact that the film is going to be released now and are keen to know what the audiences’ reaction is going to be.”

It has been brought up time and again that the actress will be seen romancing her ex-boyfriend after quite a while. When we see them together, they appear pretty comfortable with each other. Deepika surely knows how to maintain a healthy balance in her personal and professional life, but we have heard that Ranbir is still possessive about her. To this she replies, "Post break-up, we have probably become closer than we were in our relationship. People don't understand the level of maturity we have both reached. We have an immense amount of respect for each other. There has never been any kind of awkwardness between us; in fact, it is people around us who feel more awkward. The day after we broke up, we were friends and were hanging out together.”

Ask about her stunning ethnic appearance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ‘Ram Leela’ and about her character, and she says it’s too soon to talk about it. “There is a lot still left to shoot. The film is scheduled to release in November, but we are still shooting. It’s too soon to talk about that film.”

Apart from ‘Ram Leela’, she is working on Rohit Shetty's ‘Chennai Express’ in which she pairs with Shah Rukh Khan after five long years. Deepika debuted in ‘Om Shanti Om’ in 2007 opposite Shah Rukh Khan. The role was undoubtedly a dream launch pad for the model-turned-actress and would be for anybody else. It catapulted her career and which is why she still respects Shah Rukh and is now more confident about working with him. “As far as working with Shah Rukh is concerned," she says, "I’m so glad that I have got a chance after five years. He is a very encouraging and proud of me and my achievements. I think I’m a lot more confident now and more comfortable around him. I think in my first film, I was too much in shock and too surprised myself for it to even register. Today I’m a lot more confident and comfortable, as I said and he is definitely a friend and has always been someone whom I can rely on and fall back at any point in the day. He’s someone I can talk to and he has been that person to me on the sets of ‘Chennai Express’ as well.” 

‘Chennai Express’ is still being shot and is scheduled for release in August. "We still have a lot of work left on that as well,” she says. Deepika has a promising career ahead of her where not just Shah Rukh but many others will be proud of her.
 

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