For someone who's just wished Ranbir Kapoor a happy birthday and success for “Anjaana Anjaani” over Twitter, Deepika Padukone insists: “You don't get to know much about me through Twitter.”
“I am a very private person,” she declares, when asked how much of the real her we get to know through her updates on the social network. Her last few tweets have been about relationships as seen through the eyes of Aaliya Khan, her character in her next film “Break Ke Baad”. It is not the work of a publicist, she says.
Sample: “Aaliya believes being in a relationship does not make ‘my' future ‘ours'.” Or, “Compromises are important. However, Aaliya has a problem when the relationship becomes compromising.” Or “Aaliya believes a Facebook status doesn't determine your relationship status.” “It's something I believe in,” adds Deepika, almost contradicting her belief that we will never find out much about her through Twitter.
That's Deepika for you, the anti-thesis of Aishwarya Rai who has often been criticised for being superficial. You can see the real Deepika for who she is, no matter how hard she tries to carry herself off as mysterious or secretive. Come on, the girl once got a tattoo of someone's initials. How superficial can she be even if she tried?
Talking shop
Deepika comes across as the nervous girl-next-door who really seems to believe everything she says.
In Chennai to launch Fiama Di Wills' anti-hair fall shampoo and conditioner, Deepika knows what she needs to be saying. She says it at the interview, repeats it to every journalist and says it again at the press meet. “We take care of our skin, but hair is often neglected. I think this is something people should pay attention to.”
Is the product tested on bunnies? “No. That I can definitely tell you,” she smiles. Okay, now we are going to quiz her on chemicals the product contains, we tease the publicists. “I am not a scientist,” she says, matter-of-factly.
“I have full faith in my brand. You can't be selling your product without having done your research. I believe in endorsing products I would use myself,” she adds. Her association with the brand goes back three years. “After a point, it's like family. It's more of an association than an endorsement.”
How much of research does she really do about products she's associated with? “I ask them what they want to launch, the positive effect it is going to have. I am told well before the photo shoot what we are shooting for, which markets we are looking at, why we are looking at a certain product during a certain period. When you know the background of what you are doing, it just makes your work that much easier.”
It's the same when it comes to her scripts. “When I get a narration, I instinctively know if I want to do the film or not. I prefer narrations to readings.”
Coming up
She has Danish Aslam's “Break Ke Baad” and Ashutosh Gowarikar's “Khelen Hum Ji Jaan Se” releasing this year and uses her social media to talk about everything she's associated with — be it products, films or even friends.
She promised to bake a cake for Siddhartha Mallya and the Royal Challengers Bangalore if they brought home the Champions League Trophy. Damn, how will we ever get to know the real Deepika?
But seriously, how does she cope as the lines between the public and private spheres blur with social media? “For me, there's no blur. There's my personal life and there's my professional life. Of course, there are a lot of questions. But then, I choose to answer what I want to answer.”
She even has the grace to put up links to reviews that haven't been flattering to her or her films. Her critics have maintained that she cannot act. But, she's completely cool about it.
“Today, if I am working with directors such as Imtiaz Ali, Pradeep Sarkar or Vishal Bhardwaj and people still insist that I can't act then, people should actually be doubting the credentials of these critics. After seven films, if I am working with directors who are known to be good and who bring out good performances, I must be doing something right.”
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