The posters and promos of Cocktail have everyone talking about Deepika Padukone! From her look to the ‘wild-child’ personality, her character Veronica in the movie has created quite a buzz. Deepika tells us how much of a Veronica she is in real life. Exerpts from an interview:
You look fantastic in the promos of Cocktail. Did you undertake a diet for the same?
I have always tried to maintain a healthy body, but when I read the script, I realised that I wanted to take it to the next level. In fact, many people thought I was crazy when I said I wanted to get into this strict work-out regime. I started Pilates (physical fitness system) and even changed my diet slightly.
Was this change in diet because of the bikini scene?
The bikini is an extension of Veronica’s personality. She is the kind of girl who would wear a bikini on the beach, so it wasn’t a big deal. Besides that, I didn’t need to look at it any other way because I trusted director Homi Adajania’s aesthetic sense.
Is it true you took time to choose which character to play?
I took about a week to decide which character I would play because I was offered both the roles — of Meera and Veronica. Both excited me, but I had already played a girl like Meera in Love Aaj Kal, while Veronica was a lot more challenging and exciting. I took this role because people have never seen me play a character like this before.
How easy was it for you to slip into the character?
That’s the strange part. There are a few similarities I share with Veronica, but in all honesty she is not really who I am as a person. I may be like that with a couple of friends, that I am comfortable with but I always take time to open up. So even though people say this character has come to me very naturally, I have to admit that I’ve worked really hard on it.
What was it like to see Homi Adajania take on a commercial romantic flick like Cocktail?
He has done a fabulous job with this film and his vision has brought about a fresh take on it. Having said that, we would joke about how this could be considered his comeback film since only a handful saw his first film Being Cyrus which is why he had to finally succumb to the pressures of making commercial films (laughs)! Nonetheless he’s a great director! BM
