'I don't give up easily'

Deepika Padukone might have had a string of non-performers at the box office during her initial years in the industry. But post the success of last year’s cocktail, she’s been on the rise.

Her last three films — ‘Race 2’, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and ‘Chennai Express’ — have all clawed their way into the exclusive 100-crore club.

In fact, ‘Chennai Express’ managed that feat on its opening weekend and the actress is now being touted as the next big thing in Bollywood.

However, she isn’t easily swayed by these predictions, maintaining that she has a simple philosophy in life — work hard and never give up.

“I feel that ups and downs are a part of one’s career and this totally depends on how you take it. You can either be knocked down by the negative things or you can take them in a positive way and learn from them,” Deepika says.

“Maybe because I am from a sports background, I don’t give up easily. I am a fighter,” she adds.

It isn’t just commercial success that she’s achieved in the last year.

After being panned as wooden-faced for years, the 27-year-old’s last two films marked her coming of age as an actress where she proved she has the potential to do better than just look glamourous on the screen.

 “It feels nice to hear or to read this. I have been working really hard. I know I have pushed myself and sacrificed a lot of personal and family time. In the end, if the result is like that, you don’t mind. But I think success is relative. If people are saying it’s my year, it depends on my films,” she says.

“I have to focus all my energies on my next films and I hope they are better. It does not get easier to live up to all of that. I want love, success with every film and the experience increases,” adds the actress, who faced setbacks with ‘Karthik Calling Karthik’, Lafangey Parindey and Break Ke Baad.

She started her career in Hindi films with Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om and later worked with the likes of Imtiaz Ali, Ashutosh Gowariker, Prakash Jha, Ayan Mukerji and now with Rohit Shetty in ‘Chennai Express’.

 Deepika feels that Rohit, who takes pride in making ‘Chennai Express’, comes from a different school of movie-making.

 “He has his own school and style. It was a new style for me. His way of shot-taking and directing his actors are different. He has everything planned. Maybe because it’s a comedy, there was no space for improvisation,” she says. But the actress did improvise in the fixed framework to look convincing as a Tamil girl. Deepika believes in doing her homework and spends time preparing for her roles. “Preparation is definitely important, but it depends on the kinds of roles I do. For instance, I completely identify with my character in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. I had to be myself and I didn’t have to actually prepare for it,” says Deepika.

“My character in ‘Cocktail’ was different from my personality. Homi Adajania took me to London, showed me how girls dress and behave there. I had not seen that kind of lifestyle before. For ‘Chennai Express’ too, I met people and learned the accent,” she adds.