Film Industry: RANBIR AND Deepika Padukone ARE STILL FRIENDS BECAUSE OF ME

RANBIR AND Deepika Padukone ARE STILL FRIENDS BECAUSE OF ME

All heads swivel when Deepika Padukone walks in to the lobby of this mid-town five-star for such is her striking presence. It’s a rare day off for the 26-year-old actress and she is in a relaxed mood as she shares a cup of coffee and speaks about things as diverse as the striking similarity between Rahul Dravid and her father, the role of Himesh Reshammiya in her career and why Ranbir Kapoor will always hold a special place in her life. Excerpts of the interview.
What are your childhood memories? I was born in Copenhagen and when I was a year old, we moved to Bangalore. I was always a shy person and was happy with just a few friends and that came from my own social awkwardness. I did not know how to make conversations. I also played a lot of sport and at a very young age, I played competitive badminton. I would wake up at five in the morning, go for physical training, go to school, again go for playing badminton, finish my homework and go to sleep. The only time I had was on the weekends when I spent time with my family. My parents never raised their hand or fired me. Their way of disciplining me was to tell me what is right or wrong.
What were you awkward about? A lot of it came from me being my father’s daughter. Like my father, I was also very shy and reserved. Also I am Konkani and we are a quiet community.
Your father has clearly been a big influence on you. What is he like? He is unique. I think men like him tend to veer towards sports. For instance, I met Rahul Dravid recently and the way he carried himself and spoke, was so like my father. I think it’s their simplicity that makes them complete gentlemen. He will never lose his temper and is extremely patient. You ask him the same thing ten times, he will explain it to you again and again. He puts himself last and is always giving. He is not communicative but has a good but rare sense of humour. My father will never hug me, instead when he is missing me he will check with my mother if I have called or will tell her let’s call her. Of late, he has been telling me that he can come to Mumbai and be with me to help me with my house-work or accounts. I feel guilty calling my parents, since I am shooting every day. But he tells me ‘don’t worry even if we get to have one dinner together it would be fine.’ So that’s how he expresses himself.
How did you get into the film industry? Even though I played national level badminton, I told my parents when I was in 10th that I was not interested in continuing. Being a model or actor fascinated me from a young age and I even did a couple of ads when I was just eight years old. Anila Anand, who is the person responsible for what I am today, always told my mother that this is what I was destined to do. I had done a couple of print ads for Limca in Chennai which incidentally, R Balki spotted and he got in touch with my mother who was at that time, my manager. He wanted me to audition for Liril. My parents were keen that I finish my graduation, but since I was constantly travelling, my attendance became a problem in college and I had to finally quit and move to Mumbai when I was 21. I lived with my father’s sister for a year and a half in Andheri. One day, I got a call from Himesh Reshammiya’s office saying they were casting for a music video called Naam Hain Tera Tera. This was the time when he was a huge sensation. I had decided that come what may, I would never do a music video but decided to go and at least hear the song. I liked the song and did the video. Am glad I did it because Farah Khan was at that time casting for her film Happy New Year and saw me in the video while zipping channels. I guess it was luck and my destiny, that I was cast for Om Shanti Om. What was the reason for your break up with Ranbir? Sometimes two people are just not meant to be. It was a serious relationship and a public one. We will always be very special to each other and I know we influenced each other’s lives.
Did the break up affect you? Obviously, when it happened, it hurt me for a very long time but as you mature, you realise that everything that happens, is for the good. I have opened up a lot as a person as a result. It gave me a lot of confidence that I did not have earlier. I became a friendlier and more social person. I was always an emotional and sensitive person, but my years with Ranbir made me learn a lot about life, relationships and people.
Is it possible to remain friends after being lovers? After the way we broke up, we need not have remained friends, but if we are friends today, that’s because of me and I will take the credit for that. I was angry and upset for a long time and felt betrayed. But we had spent two years of our lives together and I value him as a person and his friendship. Also, I can’t hold grudges or deal with awkward situations.
You and Ranbir are working together in Ayan Mukerji’s next film. Does it feel awkward to work with your ex-lover? People around us are comfortable and are not awkward, and that comes from us. Had we been weird with each other, people around us would have felt awkward. Ayan has seen us through our best and worst part of our relationship. In fact, when our break up happened, I even cut myself off from Ayan since he was close to Ranbir. Ayan could have gone with anyone else for his film, but he saw our comfort and realised that genuinely we had both moved on in our lives.
You are a single girl and live alone in Mumbai. Do you feel lonely at times? All the time, and in fact, I have never felt it more as I have felt in the last two-three weeks as I have been working non-stop. I have a house to run and have to do every thing singlehandedly. I am not complaining as this is the life I chose for myself and knew that my family could not move with me to Mumbai. But there are days when you wish your family was there to just take care of things not only physically, but also emotionally. There are times when I am tired and drained and come back home but there is no one to talk to or to express yourself to.