Deepika Padukone made her debut with Om Shanti Om in 2007 but it was Cocktail in 2012 that proved be to a turning point in her career, where she was seen for her acting chops. Since then, the actor has proved herself to be force on screen, delivering successes as well as receiving praise for her performances. In a new interaction with Siddharth Kannan, actor Jayati Bhatia went on to share an interesting memory from the workshops she did with Deepika together before the filming of Ram-Leela.
What did Jayati say
Ram-Leela was the first film she did with Ranveer Singh. The film was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and was released in 2013. Jayati recalled how she helped the actor prepare for the demanding role in the film, and she approached every exercise with complete dedication. Jayati said, “When I started working with her, she did it with full commitment, full energy. I was told to work with her for seven days, for four hours each but after the fourth day, I told Bhansali, ‘Sir, she has become a fearless actress after Cocktail. Cocktail is her breakthrough role. If I work with her for three more days, I will waste her time, and yours. Go for it. She will do whatever you tell her. She is mouldable, fearless; she wants to do something which will challenge her’.”
‘Whatever she had heard and she just went for it’
She added how an exercise revealed a new side of the actor, “Bhansali’s office has a balcony and there is a snack vendor downstairs. I told her that your exercise is to just abuse loudly standing in that balcony. Don’t look down but act like you are addressing it to someone… She opened the door and then she started abusing. I had finished the scene at a particular abusive word, but she went beyond that. She gave more to the scene, said more abusive words, the ones that I had never even heard. Whatever she had heard and she just went for it. And I said, ‘Wow!’ She did not feel hesitant that someone might watch her. She was already a star. People knew her. But she had no fear.”
Deepika was last seen in Singham Again. Deepika and Ranveer welcomed their daughter, Dua, in 2024. They announced they were expecting their second child together in April this year. The couple shared the happy news with an adorable picture of Dua holding a pregnancy test kit showing a positive result.