MUMBAI: For the past two years, actor Deepika Padukone has been on a roll. With a myriad of 2013 box-office successes including Ram-Leela, Chennai Express and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani to her credit, she continues to make the right film choices. After her stint in the recently-released Finding Fanny received critical acclaim, Padukone is all set for the release of her upcoming commercial offering, Happy New Year.
“In Happy New Year, I portray the role of a bar dancer, who titillates men as a means of supporting her livelihood,” she shared. Celebrating her womanhood, Padukone has no qualms about playing characters that may be considered daring. “I have never shied away from anything on-screen to portray a character,” she commented.
In the wake of her silencing response to a photograph titled ‘OMG: Deepika Padukone’s Cleavage Show’, shared by an Indian publication in poor taste, Padukone clarified why she reacted to it stringently: “I have spoken out against an ideology that such regressive tactics are still being employed to draw a reader’s attention at a time when we are striving for women’s equality and empowerment.”
She added, “We all know that, in India, we are desperately trying to make a change in the way certain sections of the society think, so that we can move towards a happier world devoid of inequality, rape, fear and pain.”
Padukone emphasised on the need to respect female celebrities off-screen. “I’m not naive about my own profession,” she said. “It requires a lot of demanding things of me. Every character requires us to wear a different set of apparel. Whether or not I accept it, is my choice as an actor.” She lamented that the media often blurs the line between the ‘real’ and ‘reel’ life of a celebrity. “Understand that it is my job to portray whatever character I choose to play convincingly.”
“For me, this topic ends here. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. I have little interest to take this further as it might get more attention than it deserves and might be misconstrued even more to sell undeserved headlines. May we please show love, dignity and respect to each other?” said the star.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 21st, 2014.
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