Actress Deepika Padukone attended book launch based on the life of veteran actress Hema Malini named ‘Beyond The Dream Girl’ on Monday in Mumbai. While having discussion with Hema Malini on the dais Deepika stated that it’s difficult to find someone who understands your success.
Hema Malini was female superstar of Hindi film industry for almost 15 years and now Deepika Padukone is leading actress of the industry so when asked Deepika how people’s perspective changes towards her when she is at the top, she said, “As far as romantic relationships are concerned, they are complicated because it is difficult to find someone who understands your success and your passion for what you do and understand the fact that you are earning more money than them so it’s a complicated place to be”
“As far as professional life is concerned, I haven’t given much thought about it. It is more about the tag that have been given versus what you want or expect for yourself. The intension is to do good work. The constant endeavor is to work with extremely challenging directors, films and roles. I feel somewhere along the way success happens and tags are given but it is interesting journey to be in but my family has been immensely supportive from starting of my career. While some relationship has become stronger over the period of time, I do see a lot of my friends who distanced themselves. Some of my school friends became much closer than before because we all make the effort to stay in touch but lot of people could not handle the success that came my way and they sort of disconnected but I am not upset about it as I feel that’s just the way life goes”
Hema Malini has worked in two period films in her life ‘Meera’ (1979) and ‘Razia Sultan’ (1983), at the dais, she spoke about challenges that she faced in her time doing ambitious period films so when asked Deepika about her upcoming period film ‘Padmavati’ which is huge in scale and the budget, Deepika said, “I feel extremely fortunate to repeatedly work with someone like Sanjay Leela Bhansali over five years and three consecutive films back to back in extremely challenging but in extremely empowering roles that he is known to give women”
“I think it is important to have big budget for film like ‘Padmavati’ because that’s where I think cinema has gone today in terms of what the audience expects and demands, in terms of an industry not just in India but globally how much we have grown”
“Still some level of challenges some where are the same but may be work environment today has changed a lot. Today, you get your payment on time but if you ask Sanjay sir if he wants more budgets then, he will surely say yes because at the end of the day, it is to create the best movie possible.”
“Work wise, ‘Padmavati’ has been extremely exhausting experience. I have done this character for one year like my other films ‘Bajirao-Mastani’ and ‘Ramleela’. We were working 6-8 months nonstop around the clock to be able to meet the deadline and more than that certain characters I feel don’t leave your system”
Praising Hema Malini, Deepika said, “Hema Malini ji is very special to me and not just to me but all young women. We have all looked up to her. It’s not just about the movies but its woman beyond that we look up to”
Deepika shared actress struggles and journey while working in the industry from her own experiences, she said, “it’s very hard and difficult. People just see glamour, success and all the good things that come into our lives but I feel there is reason why all of that happens. There is lot of hard work and immense sacrifices as well to lead a disciplined life. I believe at the end of the day, it’s in the eyes and you need to lead discipline life for that to translate onscreen when you play different characters.”
“Hema Malini ji also had share of sacrifices in her career but my biggest sacrifice was to live away from my family and to start my own life here. It looks extremely glamorous from outside and off course there are advantages and perks but with that comes extreme dedication, discipline and hard work.”
“When you get written off. It really depends on each individual what they make that opportunity or obstacles that they might have faced. I think in both our cases, we turned negatives into positives. I have learned how to learn from weaknesses, enhance your strength and to come out better and stronger than ever before”
Deepika’s upcoming film ‘Padmavati’ which also stars Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor is schedule to release on December 1, 2017.
