It all started with Eros International's Cocktail. From there on,Deepika Padukone worked on three back to back films which had UTV attached to them - Race 2, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and now Chennai Express - each of which went on to be a milestone in Deepika's career as well as Indian box office. Now life is coming back full circle for Deepika Padukone who would be seen in two Eros productions - Ram Leela andKochadiiyaan.
No wonder, she is flying high and merrily wearing the crown of Numero Uno heroine quite firmly on her head.
"Frankly, it hasn't sunk in yet," says Deepika, "It is not even about time. It is about the fact that so much has happened during the years gone by. Right from the time I said yes to Om Shanti Om, things have just been moving and moving and moving ahead, I really have not had any time to sit down, analyse and absorb all that has happened to me. I look at everything that I have done so far as experiences. I am still in those moments. I am in love with my work and really passionate about it. I am just moving on. I am in a good space now."
Meanwhile her Chennai Express was as unabashed as it gets. Was it intentional on her part to pick up something as light hearted as this after relatively dramatic encounters in Cocktail andYeh Jawaani Hai Deewani? Was it like a detoxication exercise in the making?
"See, there was a point one and a half years ago when I was being offered certain films. While some of the hits that I have been a part of appeared to be straight forward choices for many, I remember the way so many out there reacted to my decision about doing Chennai Express'," she reveals, "They wondered if this would be yet another Rohit Shetty film and wondered aloud that why was I doing it at all. Usually the girls don't have a major part to play in his films and it is guys would walk away with all the credit. Upar se yahan toh it was Shahrukh Khan no less."
While one waits to see what unfolds in months to come, one factor that cannot be ignored is that in the current times, Deepika is being looked at as someone against whose name records are being attached. If Cocktail was her biggest grosser as a solo leading lady, Race 2 marked her entry into the 100 crore club. Chennai Express has now crossed the 200 crore mark while Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is now the fourth highest grosser ever in the history of Indian cinema. While the big league is definitely on, haven't these records made her all the more conscious?
She breathes in and gulps before saying, "Wow, now these are some heavy words indeed. Also, you make it all sound really scary. See, the intentions to make the films that I have done in the recent past was not to create records. Aisa nahi tha ki chalo karte hain, achchi locations daalenge, pairing achchi hogi, gaane achche hoge to picture superhit ho hi jaayegi. It all eventually boils down to you being honest with your work. You have to go with the flow."
She continues, "Sometimes some things just click. If they have to work then they work. There are so many reasons involved in making a film a hit. Other than a quality product, so much depends on the right marketing and promotion as well."
Well, she indeed can expect a lot of that and more, what with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Sunil Lulla and Soundarya Rajinikanth planning nothing but the best for her next two releases Ram Leela and Kochadiiyaan.
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