Deepa Karmalkar calm, collected and completely measured in her responses, she is well-behaved to a fault. She knows how to wave and smile. She brushes aside her lush black tresses and dimples sweetly asking for a hot coffee. Dusky and determined, this Capricornian is well aware of the big stardom she is headed for. She’s had a long day fielding queries from the media and this one is her last interaction before the pre-publicity blitzkrieg winds up. Reinforced by the hot brew she starts by admitting that she’s nervous only for “myself”, “I have no doubt that Om Shanti Om(OSO) going to fare very well because it is a fun, bright, colourful family movie,” she asserts. Nevertheless she recently visited Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupati and prayed for the success of her first Hindi film. “It is an annual family ritual and luckily we went this year just before the release. I do visit religious places for peace of mind and inner strength. But I know there is no substitute for hard work,” she reflects.
Although she debuted in a Kannada film and trained at Anupam Kher’s Actor Prepares, Deepika is a fresher nonetheless. So what preparation did the big debut entail, did she attend workshops or did they hold any script-reading sessions prior to the shoot of OSO? She laughs happily and says,”None of the above! I only trained in Kathak for six months with Pandit Veeru Krishnan. That too because it is required in one of the songs. Like any South Indian girl, I trained in Bharatnatyam as a youngster. I enjoy dancing and Farah has made the most of my dancing prowess,” she elaborates.
Born to the Badminton legend Prakash Padukone, Deepika’s childhood back home in Bangalore was taken up by racquets and shuttlecocks. But she was never really game for it,” I always had a dream to be famous and be seen on hoardings. I wanted to be a model,” she explains. Modelling she did and did it pretty well too, she was soon the most sought-after brand face. She became the face of Kingfisher besides modelling for international brands like Maybelline. Like every kid, she too grew up on a staple of Hollywood flicks, but she adds that she also loved Hindi films like Shah Rukh’s Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Salman and Anil Kapoor-Madhuri Dixit starrers. “But I never thought I would be an actor,” she confesses.
Director Farah Khan approached her for the coveted role in Om Shanti Om and invited her to meet up the producer and the leading man of the film. “I met Shah Rukh at Mannat, his residence for the first time. I was a little taken aback on meeting him in person. I had only seen him on-screen prior to this,” she lets on. She met Khan on several occasions and discovered that he was “really easy to get-along” and “down-to-earth”. By the time they went on floor with the film she had attained a “comfort level” with her co-star that enhanced their “on-screen chemistry”.
Deepika realised soon enough that acting was much more consuming than modelling,”I had to go through a gamut emotions within one day’s shoot. By the end of each day, I would be drained. Acting can be pretty exhausting,” she admits. Her very first shot was a cliched scene that involved hyper ventilation and screaming the infamous filmy obscenities, “Kutte, kamine! Bhagwan ke liye mujhe chhod de”. She was tied to a chair and surrounded by ugly goons, she had to overact and deliver her lines without cracking up. “And that wasn’t easy,” she laughs daintily.
The most enjoyable part about her role she says was re-visiting the 70’s,”It was like travelling back in time, I wasn’t around then. The get-ups were an absolute revelation for me,” she says. The Amrapali get-up was by far the most dazzling of the avtaars she donned in the film.
If Shah Rukh will be reborn in the film, will she also be in the re-incarnate mode in the modern times? “I am not telling,” she says wagging her finger in mock censure. Asked about the most challenging scene she says it was definitely the one in which a “revelation” comes about which she would want everyone to “watch and enjoy.” She absolutely loves being likened to the Dream Girl, Hema Malini,”Hemaji is the most beautiful and accomplished actors. I am completely inspired by her and I would love to meet her,” she enthuses. But she insists that her role in OSO is not modelled on her at all.
Deepika is confident about OSO and she insists that they are focussing their energy solely on their film, “We aren’t thinking about others,” she states emphatically referring to Saawariya releasing simultaneously.