Deepika Padukone seems to be forming quite a hit pair with Saif Ali Khan. The actress who already had Love Aaj Kal and Aarakshan to her credit where she starred opposite the Chhote Nawab, has gone out doing yet another film Cocktail working not just opposite the actor but also under his production house again. In a recent interview, Deepika spoke about forming a team with Saif Ali Khan, her latest film Cocktail and lots more.
What is this Cocktail all about? Cocktail is about three different journeys, three different characters; Meera, Gautam and Veronica. How three completely different people who belong to very stark backgrounds from each other meet, how three people who are poles apart turn into best friends. And when friendship turns into love, a Cocktail of journey, emotions, friendship and love begins.
You were offered both the roles of Meera and Veronica and you opted for the latter. Any specific reason?
Meera in cocktail is almost similar to Meera I played in Love aaj kal. It would have been very easy for me to slip into the character. But I wanted something much more exciting than that. I wanted to take a risk. Dinesh was pretty confused about it. When you work with someone, people know which character one can pull off comfortably. He knew I can play Meera but he also knew I can do veronica as well. So he gave the script to me. I was tempted to do Meera but I found Veronica more tricky. At last, I went to Imtiaz and said I am keen to do both the roles. Can I do a double role? Imtiaz then suggested me to take up Veronica.
In reality, who do you relate to, Meera or Veronica?
It has to be Meera. In fact, I am more like the Meera of Love Aaj Kal. She is the one who brings stability in Jay’s life in the film. For Veronica, I actually had to step out of my comfort zone and perform.
Like you said, Veronica can’t look made up. She needs to be real and you personally feel you are closer to Meera. So how did you prepare for the role of a wild and edgy girl like Veronica?
Well, Homi and I did a lot of reading. We went through the script a lot of time. We discussed my scenes. We tried to figure what could be her body language, how will she speak her lines. These two are the most important things that we worked on. But also important was what the character was saying in the between the lines. Homi had said in one of his interviews that after some point of time, he had stopped directing me as I had completely moulded myself as the character. This is a huge compliment for me because in the hindsight, it was true. I very rarely saw him instructing me how to do my role. That means I had sub consciously, without even realising, slipped into the character totally.
Pretty often, an actor takes something with him/her of the character in the film. What is the one thing that you took with you from Veronica?
I think it is the emotional journey that Veronica goes through in the movie that I found very difficult to detach myself from. See, I choose my films. I decide which one of the roles I will take up and which I won’t. But every actor does a few films that become very special. Cocktail is one of them for me. I think I got so attached to this character by playing and by being Veronica, that on the last day of shoot, it was difficult to detach Deepika from Veronica.
From promos it can be gathered that the lines in the film are pretty bold. Did it rattle you a bit when you read the script? No…not at all! In fact, my reaction was wow…this is so cool! It is amazing not because I got the opportunity to do this role but also for the fact that in Hindi cinema, these kinds of roles are getting written now. Today woman are so liberated and the role I play in the movie so relatable. The only difference is Veronica knows to speak her mind. Majority of the girls today hesitate to do that. Veronica never thinks twice before saying something.
Your chemistry with Saif Ali Khan has mostly worked. What do you think makes you two click on screen?
I think we kind of bring the chemistry of the characters alive on screen more than anything else. When we set out to do Love Aaj Kal we did not plan to have this chemistry between us and that people should like us on screen. It just happened. It was just a coincidence that everything fell into place. Again, Cocktail is also a coincidence as it is Illuminati Films’ second romantic comedy of which I am part of. I also think Saif and my chemistry isn’t tangible. You either have it or you don’t. We kind of have it and for the kind of movies we do, we have to have it. So I think it is brilliant.
These days, actresses are getting offered author backed roles. Would you be up for such an offer?
Most certainly! In fact, I think my journey in that direction has already begun with Veronica.
If you are offered a movie, what is the first thing that you look for?
It has to be the script. We can have a great star cast, a brilliant producer and a big director and everything else going your way. But if the story doesn’t connect with the audience, I will feel empty. It doesn’t feel complete. On the contrary, if you have a great script, everything else falls into place.
The film is written by Imtiaz Ali. So was there any involvement from his side in the making of the film?
No. Imtiaz was part of the project only as a writer and I think it is a good thing. Mostly, in our industry people write and direct their movies. But if we can have a good writer penning a story and another director calling the shots, the latter can bring his own perspective. Had Imtiaz made it, it would have been his perspective. Cocktail might have looked very different then. What we see today is Homi’s personal touch to the story and also his creativity.
Diana Penty is a newcomer. So Saif and you being the seasoned stars of the industry, did you try to play pranks on her?
No, we didn’t trouble her at all. We all got along very well. Dinesh, Saif, Homi, Diana and I sort of became one unit. Everyone came together as a unit and all the credit goes to the director because he brings a lot of energy to the sets. The way he brings the team together made everybody look forward to perform. We faced many challenging situations. We experienced cold weather in London and extremely hot weather in Cape Town. Even in those times, we were together and very closely knit.
What are your expectations from the movie?
Well, we have performed well. We have everything going. People are enjoying the music and they loved the first look of the movie. People are also liking the promos. I don’t know about the business of box-office. I hope that the film does well for my producers. But most importantly, we made this movie from the heart. We have invested a lot in it emotionally. Like I was saying before, it was difficult for me to detach myself from my character in the movie. So I hope people enjoy the movie and also love it like I do.
What are you working on now?
I am shooting Race 2 and Ayan Mukherjee’s Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Race 2 is an action thriller but I don’t have any action sequence in it.
You are working with your
ex-beau in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Was there any kind of awkwardness between you two?
No. If we had had any awkwardness, we wouldn’t have agreed to do a movie together. We wouldn’t have done the movie if we had felt it would be uncomfortable. I think we have learnt to keep our personal life aside and focus on our professional life. But on a personal note, yes, we have a beautiful friendship and I am glad that we were able to get past that moment.
