Deepika Padukone had a dream debut in Bollywood

Working with Om Shanti Om director Farah Khan

I would definitely call it a home coming. Teaming up again with SRK and Farah makes me feel as though I’m with my family. The kind of treatment they give me and the way they make me feel has definitely brought back memories of Om Shanti Om. Even today she calls me ‘baby ‘and I call her ‘Maa’ and that’s the kind of relation we share with each other. In fact a lot of time we used to discuss and recall times we spent on the sets of Om Shanti Om.

Role in Happy New Year

Initially, I guess, they were looking for a new girl for this role of Mohini but that didn’t happen. After the release of Chennai Express, Farah called me and approached me to be the part of this film. I had no clue about the script of the film but I immediately agreed. At that moment, luckily the dates worked out. I got to know about the script and the story before we started with the shoot.

On your character in the film

I am playing the character of Mohini Joshi who is a bar dancer. She loves dancing. The only way she can support family is by being a bar dancer. She worships dance and there comes a situation when the other 5 characters in the film approach me to teach them how to dance.

On learning Marathi for the role

I didn’t have to learn Marathi as I speak Konkani at home. Konkani and Marathi are almost the same. There were just a couple of dialogues which had to be delivered in the right manner.

Journey in Bollywood

I would say that it has been a wonderful journey. I had a fantastic debut and very few newcomers get such kind of a debut these days. I can confidently say that none of the new actresses might have got that kind of a launch in Bollywood. After that some of my films didn’t do well so I went through a phase for 2 years when my films didn’t do well and I think I made use of that time to know my mistakes and my strength. I used that low phase in my career to make myself better. I kept a lot of patience to go against the tide and I think that’s my biggest point. Later “Cocktail” happened which I consider as the turning point in my life. So it has been a journey of ups and downs. The ups were always great whereas from the downs I understood the most of it.

Greatest support during tough times

I think you are the only one who can support yourself during your tough times. Yes, you will always have the support of your family and friends but I think when you are going through a low phase no one can help or support you better than yourself.

Upcoming projects

There are 3 films which are set for 2015 release. Pikku with Amitabh Bachchan and Soojit Sircar, next is Tamasha with Ranbir Kapoor and Imtiaz. Then Sanjay Leel Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastaani .

Box office success or critical appreciation

For me both are very important. I have worked with film makers who are not concerned about getting critical appreciations but somewhere they also feel bad when their films do not get good reviews whereas when a film gets good reviews and fails to do well at box office the film makers wonder what went wrong. As an actor, I would like to deliver hit films where my producers make money and at the same time my performance is also appreciated. For me the sign of a successful film is the repeat value of that particular film. Mughal-E-Azam and Devdas are those kinds of films which can be watched even 10 years later.

Deepika is looking forward to Happy New Year which is all set to enthrall the audiences on October 24.