21 Dec 2008, She’s still as politically correct as ever’. ‘Is Ranbir also in town?’ These were just some of the musings doing the rounds at a recent event where namma hudugi Deepika Padukone was in attendance for a brand endorsement. The actress was also taking a short break visiting her family. BT caught up with her. 

I’m different... Don’t compare me with Priyanka Chopra just because she’s done stunts in Drona and I’ve done action sequences in Chandni Chowk to China (CC2C). Each person is unique and so am I. I worked hard for six months to learn those stunts and was specially trained by experts from Hong Kong. 

I’m glad film-makers recognise my talent... I will be playing a dual role once again in CC2C, after Om Shanti Om. So, I’m happy that film-makers find me capable of portraying different roles. It’s given me confidence and much satisfaction. 

Wearing those tight wigs for CC2C was painful... One of the two roles I play in the film is that of a Chinese girl. Which is why it was necessary for me to wear those tight wigs with a fringe. Even my eyes had to be stretched out for the role. It really hurt to stay like that till pack-up, but the effort was worth it. 

I feel fortunate to have worked with some of the top heroes... From Shah Rukh Khan to Akshay Kumar. And now I’m working with Saif Ali Khan for Imtiaz Ali’s next film, after which I will be working with Akshay once again. Akshay is such a fantastic guy and has so many years of experience. I learnt so much from him. I’m glad I’ve got to work with all of them so early in my career. 

What is Sandalwood?... If that’s what the Kannada industry is called now, I didn’t know that. But I did learn a lot from my debut, Aishwarya. It helped me a lot in my second film, OSO. If I get an interesting project here, I’ll definitely do it. 

Bangalore will always be my home... Although I don’t come here often on work, I come here to meet my family. And despite all the development that’s going on, it’s nice to see that people are still simple and down-to-earth like always. 
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