'I advise Deepika to remain grounded'

Trust Deepika Padukone to set a trend every time she waltzes across the screen.
Her role in ‘Chennai Express’, where she mouths Hindi dialogues in a Tamil accent, has caught the attention of the audience.

Her famous phrase bokwas is now part of lingua franca and is used by a lot of young boys and girls in the course of their conversation.

And basking in Deepika’s progress is her father and former badminton champion Prakash Padukone and her golfer sister Anisha Padukone.

They confess that they miss Deepika but are very happy with the way she has handled herself and handled progress itself.

Prakash is what he is because of his hard work and uncompromising attitude in working towards his goal.

He has passed on the same single-minded devotion, determination and commitment to his daughters — Deepika and Anisha.

“I always advise Deepika to remain grounded and never let success get to her head. We always asked her never to lose touch with the real world. We have brought up our children in the best way possible and sometimes we do miss them but it’s natural that they grow up, choose the profession of their choice and will certainly leave us one day. We have to be prepared for that,” he says.

Prakash feels Deepika has come a long way from where she began. “She has improved a lot and has begun exploring different genres of cinema. That’s a sign of progress,” he smiles.

Her sister Anisha doesn’t feel very different from what her father has to say. “I think Deepika has finally settled in and found happiness. She needs to let go of herself and I think she’s doing just that,” says Anisha. She adds that the family visits Deepika in Mumbai whenever they can take off together.

Prakash wants to bring badminton closer to the ordinary people. “The Indian Badminton League (IBL) has brought people closer to the sport but I feel people should just start playing badminton as a stress buster. This will help popularise the sport,”
he concludes.