“I don’t want to feel too comfortable” – Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone is a young woman who certainly knows what she wants. Honesty is always welcome, especially when it comes to Bollywood folks and Deepika indeed comes across as someone who doesn’t believe in projecting a holier than thou or a fake persona for herself. She isn’t brash, rude or outspoken in a way that would go against the Bollywood diktats. However, she doesn’t hide her emotions either when it comes to her journey towards bigger success in the world of cinema. "I definitely want the fire in me to keep going. I am not quite keen on resting right now. I have always maintained that working in films has been an ongoing learning experience for me. This is why I don’t intend to sit down, relax and feel that since the going has been good, let me take it easy. No ways; I don’t want to feel too comfortable about my movies stint. I would rather work hard. Thankfully, people’s attitude towards me has been very good in the industry so I have no complaints around my work at all", states Deepika in a perfect tone. She understands that after milestone affairs like Om Shanti Om and Love Aaj Kal, the challenge is not just to meet the high expectations that audience and industry have from her. Instead, the challenge is to keep her eyes wide open at every moment, sort out all the noise around her, go with her inner conscience, not be overtly choosy and pick the best of projects which are coming her way. "It is just a beginning for me and not the end of the road. However, it doesn’t make sense for me to begin celebrating so soon; after all I still have a lot more to achieve. I don’t like to tom-tom about my success", says Deepika, "Love Aaj Kal was just my fourth film and it was a great feeling when it did so well. Having said that, I couldn’t sit down and say that I was satisfied. I had to continue picking up more and better films and make the best of the choices coming my way." Thankfully for her, it has always been a luxury of riches for her ever since her debut effort with none other than Shah Rukh Khan made box office history a little over two years ago. Bachna Ae Haseeno, Chandni Chowk To China, Love Aaj Kal and Karthik Calling Karthik followed and though her overall success rate has been over fifty percent, calculations indicate that it is bound to go higher up in months to follow. "Well, I should not be myself talking about these things unless being asked, right", comments Deepika, "Today I am doing an interview with you and when you are asking me about my success, I am acknowledging that", smiles Deepika who is now looking at a potential block buster in the form of Housefull. With Ashutosh Gowariker’s Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (Abhishek Bachchan), Kunal Kohli’s Break Ke Baad (Imran Khan) and Yash Raj Films’ (tentatively titled) Lafange Parinde (Neil Nitin Mukesh) also in the pipeline, it indeed looks like a ‘houseful’ innings ahead for Deepika Padukone.