Deep in love

It's more about honesty than love for the girl of the moment. Deepika Padukone tells Sunday MiD DAY about looking beyond cheesy gestures and how there's more than on-screen chemistry that connects her with Saif Ali Khan

DEEPIKA Padukone is GenNext's poster girl. Smart, independent and has a busy love life. But not many her age work with the Khans of Bollywood and have a hottie for a boyfriend. In an ironical twist, the actress, who's now guarded about her love life, stars in a movie that's all about it. Saif Ali Khan's first home production Love Aaj Kal is her latest film to hit theatres. "Nervous?" she says, like the mere suggestion of it is laughable when we ask if Saif had the jitters on the set since this was his first venture as a producer. "No, Saif was not nervous. Not at all. In fact, they (Saif and director Imtiaz Ali) took extremely good care of me. There were no expectations from me, apart from performing well. They didn't make me feel out of place. I was part of a big family."

Deepika might be just 23, but she does have some strong views when it comes to love. She says, "Love hasn't changed. Maybe the process is different but the emotions are the same." Yet it can't be denied that the generation she belongs to is quite skeptical when it comes to love. The actor defends her generation by stating, "I don't think so. If they are, then they might be people who don't believe in love or know of someone with a bad experience. Some people close up and don't share their feelings. But for those who don't, I think at some point you realise that you are in love."

After a strong opinion like that, you can't help but wonder if she's talking from a personal experience. So we quiz her about what she thinks qualifies as cheesy in a relationship. "When you are in love, everything makes sense, unless you get out of it. A couple of years later, you think 'Did I really do that?'" she states matter-of-factly. But she plays the role of a politically correct actor when we ask if previous boyfriends have ever made any cheesy gestures of love. "No, never. My past boyfriends have not done anything like that for me," comes her pat reply.u00a0

The promos of Love Aaj Kal show a great chemistry between Saif and Deepika, but off-screen there was something else, a deeper fact common to both of them they are dating cousins. Deepika laughs when this coincidence is pointed out and says between giggles, "Yes. There is a different connection between us. But we don't give it too much importance or discuss it. We are both actors and connect differently."

Through a recent magazine article, we discover a little known fact about Deepika she loves making to-do lists. Every morning, that's the first thing she does. But are there any lists when it comes to love? Any must haves or to dos? "When it comes to love, there are no boundaries or rules. If I had to tell you, that would be giving out many personal details," says the actor, who admires the on-screen chemistry between boyfriend Ranbir's parents Neetu and Rishi Kapoor, along with Raj Kapoor-Nargis and Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol. Off-screen, though, it's the love and chemistry between her parents Prakash and Ujjala that she sees as exemplary.u00a0u00a0

When it comes to her personal choices in love, Deepika says that honesty is the way to a woman's heart. And Ranbir Kapoor seems to be just that guy. She credits the connection between the two as a basis for their relationship. "I guess we compliment each other and there is trust. It's also just the way he looks at me."

That sure is an awww-inducing thing to say. But there has to be something about him that ticks her off. "He's fussy about food. His entire mood gets affected if the food is not up to the mark. I'm not meaning to say that he is difficult. I'm not fussy about food (because I've traveled on badminton tournaments where the food was not that great). Not that I can't differentiate between good and bad food."u00a0

After Bachna Ae Haseeno, Ranbir and she have been offered more than their fair share of movies to work together, but we yet have to hear of any project materialising. So what would be the perfect story for the two to get together once again onscreen? "We've never really given it a thought. There have been offers. But we just know when something works or doesn't. It doesn't have to be a romantic film."

Rumours about links-up and break- up are a norm of the industry. Every time a film is set to release, the personal lives and relationships of the lead pair make headlines and it's not solely the media's doing. Deepika voices a strong opinion about actors using their relationships to promote a film. "It's ridiculous. I know of people who do this (suggest that she use her relationship to promote the movie). Why should anyone tell me what I should and shouldn't do?"

Yet her own love life is daunted with rumours; the latest being Ranbir's growing affinity with Katrina Kaif. But Deepika is secure and firmly states, "There is nothing to react to. You know the details of your relationship.

None of these things make a difference to the relationship because you trust the other person."u00a0u00a0

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