TOP OF HER GAME

With a slew of hit films and so much anticipation about her next one, Chhapaak, it seems Deepika Padukone has nowhere to go but up

- PRIYANKA BHADANI

Once, while studying at a convent school in Bengaluru, Deepika Padukone dressed up as the principal on Teacher’s Day and imitated her so well that the whole school was in splits. A few days later, one of her teachers recounted the incident to Deepika’s parents—Ujjala and badminton legend Prakash Padukone. “Everyone was so impressed,’ the teacher told her mother.

Ujjala feels that Deepika always had the ability to act. “She is just getting better with every movie,’ she says. “Her choice of scripts and films is improving day by day.” She is not just saying that because she is Deepika’s mother. According to the actor, her mother is her biggest critic, who is “brutally honest” about her performances.

Deepika is waiting to hear what her mother thinks about Chhapaak, which is based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. “Tt has been an eye-opener,’ says the actor about her role. Playing an acid attack survivor day in and day out did take quite an emotional toll on her. But at this stage of her career, after 12 years in the industry, she is looking for such meaningful roles.

For Deepika, getting better creatively has been a gradual process, feels director Indrajit Lankesh, who launched her in his Kannada film, Aishwarya (2006), after he saw her modelling at a fashion show that he was judging. He remembers two things about her—how captivated he was by her looks and confidence, and how nervous she was during Aishwarya’s shoot. “But for a newcomer, she was a complete professional,” he says. “Even before signing on, she had a manager. She engaged in every conversation about the film.’