TAMASHA Film Updates *ing Ranbir-Deepika (2 Dialogue Promos PG-148) - Page 29

Kolkata: It would have been any given Sunday. But it turned out to be anything but. All thanks to two Team t2 favourites from Bollywood " Deepika Padukone and Imtiaz Ali. The actress on top of her game and the Jamshedpur boy who has brought a unique directorial sensitivity to the big screen, have been shooting in Calcutta for the last few days for Tamasha.

On Sunday morning, the two left The Oberoi Grand and drove down to the t2 office where they spent close to an hour. Want to know if Deepika is more Meera or Veronica? Or when she might not even brush her teeth? Or what she thinks of Imtiaz the sexy? Read on...

Priyanka Roy: You've almost made Calcutta your second home. You were here for Piku (directed by Shoojit Sircar and co-starring Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan Khan) for almost a month in November and now you're back for Tamasha. What do you like about Calcutta?

Deepika Padukone: I think it just feels like having come back home. And I think what really allowed me to experience Calcutta and get to know the city and its people is Piku. Because I was here for a month and I was with Bengalis and here as a Bengali girl. This time (for Tamasha) it's a little different... I don't play a Bengali character, but I think having been here now and having spent so much time, I feel familiar with the city, its culture and its people.

Priyanka: Have you had the time to explore the city?

Deepika: This time it's more hectic because of the kind of things we're doing within the film. The last time I was here, of course, within the film, I had to show Irrfan around, so we got to do the typically touristy things. So that allowed me to also explore and see some of the schools and things like that. So in that sense, I think it's a little different. We went to a momo joint yesterday, it's called Momo Plaza (on Lee Road)... I don't know if it's good or not, but we just told our driver to take us somewhere.

Karo Christine Kumar: There's another one called Tibetan Delight inside a lane there.

Imtiaz Ali: It was difficult for her to get inside that lane.

Deepika: That's where I actually wanted to go, but when I told the driver he said, Haan, yahi hai!' Later, I discovered that my manager and he had a plan to make me believe that that's the place! (Laughs) I'm very stubborn, if I want to do something, I will do it. But apparently that place (Tibetan Delight) is a little crowded. I felt cheated (laughs) but I will be back! It was a good experience.

Chandreyee Chatterjee: So Imtiaz, Deepika of Love Aaj Kal or Deepika of Tamasha?

Imtiaz: (In a matter-of-fact tone) Tamasha is my favourite... now! (Everyone laughs) She's a very shy person, actually. So when I was working with her in Love Aaj Kal, that was always a kind of impediment because I had to get her past her natural shyness on most occasions. Because she would try to hide behind the co-actor (Deepika laughs shyly), not take the light, speak softly so that no one would hear her, you know that kind of thing...

Deepika: Like just want to wriggle out!

Imtiaz: Like I'm also there, but not really there' attitude. So, to somehow give her some lead that she pushes forward and shows herself is more or less what I did with her in that movie (Love Aaj Kal). In this one (Tamasha), she has changed. I won't say that she's more confident, because intrinsically she's always a confident person, but this time it's easier because she's now exploring things as an actor. She's understood that she's an actor and this is what she does and she can go forward and that there's so much more that she can do. The good thing about her now is that she has a lot of enthusiasm for the journey, but she doesn't really have a fixed point where she wants to reach as an actor.

Priyanka: Deepika, would you credit Imtiaz the most for that sudden surge in your career? It all started with Cocktail and though he didn't direct it, he wrote the character and the film...

Imtiaz: Arre, I didn't direct it, that's why it worked! (Laughs)

Deepika: Yes, actually because (pauses)...

Imtiaz: Expect her to say, No, I don't give him credit'!

Deepika: (To Imtiaz) Listen! (Continues with her answer) When I was offered the film, I was offered kind of both the parts (Meera and Veronica) because I think at the time, they said, You're like Meera (played by Diana Penty), maybe you wanna do Meera'. My producer Dinoo (Dinesh Vijan) also said, I'm a bit confused, I think you can also do Veronica'. So, I was very confused and I remember having a chat with him (points at Imtiaz).

I was shooting for some ad or something at that time and I called Imtiaz up because he had written it and I had worked with him before. So I thought, let me ask him what he thinks. And the one thing he said that really stayed with me was. There is a Veronica in you, I have seen it. And I think you're ready to do the part'. And if he had not said that to me, I don't think I would have even attempted it. But the fact that it came from someone who's written it and the fact that he's also directed me so he knows what I'm capable of... he wouldn't have said it if he didn't think I could pull it off... and that was it.

Priyanka: So Imtiaz, where did you actually see the uninhibited Veronica in

Deepika? Because you just said that during Love Aaj Kal, she was always hiding behind the co-actor and trying to be a side player...

Imtiaz: Not that I can volunteer all the details, but... (laughs)

Deepika: (Laughs) Let's just stick to saying he saw it and not give out any details!

Imtiaz: Generally, you know, when you shoot for a very long time, you must have heard the cliche that you become like family. So that actually happens to some extent... you let your hair down. I think she felt comfortable with all of us, and she was more chilled when we were not shooting, you know, so then there was that extremely naughty, like that I know more than I pretend to know' look in her. I feel she's very sensitive, intuitive, much more than people know about her. And so that came through in a very naughty way. And then I realised that there is a lot of spark in this one. She's always pretending to be Meera, but actually she's Veronica! (Deepika laughs)

A tray of themed cupcakes (courtesy Mrs. Magpie) is brought in. Deepika lets out a squeal of delight as she spies a cupcake of her as Mohini (from Happy New Year) and laughs out loud when she sees another cupcake with a replica of Imtiaz with his trademark long hair peering into a camera.

Deepika: How sweeet! (Looks at the Imtiaz cupcake) Look at your hair! (Laughs)
(Deepika and Imtiaz hold up the cupcakes, with Imtiaz posing with Mohini' and Deepika with Imtiaz')

Deepika: This is such a wrong visual because Imtiaz would never direct me like that! (Laughs)
(Clicks and laughs over, Deepika starts playing a guessing game with the other cupcakes, each of which represents a film or character of hers!)
This is Cocktail, that's Chennai Express, Om Shanti Om... This is a badminton racket... so say Piku... and this is Veronica. This one is actually very similar to my character in Tamasha.

Imtiaz: Let me pick up Deepika! (Laughs, referring to the Mohini cupcake even as Deepika holds up Imtiaz and the two pretend as if he's directing her)

Deepika: Back shot!

Imtiaz: Left profile will look better, no?

Deepika: These are actually so cute, na? Are these edible? I definitely wanna eat Imtiaz's head!

Riddhima Khanna: Deepika, you have said that you always dress according to your personality. With so many public appearances and film characters, how tough is it for you to dress like who you actually are?

Deepika: It's definitely a lot of pressure... the expectation to look a certain way all the time and then I think it depends on each one whether they succumb to that pressure or not... whether they want to live up to that image or not. But I, as a person, go through those days when I am very happy just wearing clothes like how I am dressed now... I haven't really put in much effort [Deepika was casual chic for the t2 chat in skinny jeans, a classic by Best Offers" style="color: rgb(0, 78, 140); outline: 0px; border: none !important; display: inline-block !important; float: none !important; font-weight: bold !important; height: auto !important; margin: 0px !important; min-height: 0px !important; min-width: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; text-transform: uppercase !important; vertical-align: baseline !important; width: auto !important; background: transparent !important;">GOLD watch, sweater with lace trimming, round Miu Miu sunnies, stylish Oxfords and a hint of orange on the lips. And yes, she was looking wow!] And then there are days when you have to go to the red carpet... I mean we are girls at the end of the day and girls do like to put in a certain effort and look a certain way. Fortunately, I'm in a business where I am surrounded with professionals who will do that for me, so why not make use of that facility sometimes?

When I am at home, I just like to lounge in my easiest and most comfortable clothes. When I am travelling, there's no make-up on... I think as an actor it is also very important to keep in touch with yourself because every day you are playing different characters, you are looking a certain way for a particular part and it's very easy to start losing yourself in the process.

Also with every film that you do and with every character, you are giving a part of yourself. So to just look like how you normally look is a way of keeping in touch with reality and keeping the balance between real and reel.

Rwitoban Deb (third-year student of Jadavpur University and a Deepika fan): Deepika, you are really tall, taller than many of the leading actors. Is that a hindrance sometimes?

Deepika: (Pauses) Not at all. Especially the kind of films that are being written today... no, not at all.

Priyankar Patra (a second-year student of Asutosh College and an Imtiaz fan): Imtiaz, the journey is a very important element of your films. Is it drawn from your personal life in any way?

Imtiaz: I have been asked this a lot, but I think journey is very important to me personally because I think that you get a chance to be someone else when you are on a journey. You can be anybody. And that also gives you your ability of seeing life in a different way. There's this very famous saying that if you want somebody to say the truth, then give him a mask. Don't expect him to say the truth when he's showing you his face. So sometimes, when there's no reference of who you are and you go to a place like that... they don't know who you are... that happens in a journey all the time. At that time, you have the ability of being free from who you think you are and what people think you are and being something new... something else. That is what is exciting for me.

Tanya Jaiswal (t2 reader and Deepika fan): I loved you as Naina in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Which has been your favourite role?

Deepika: I also think I identify with that character. He (Imtiaz) doesn't believe... he thinks I am Veronica somewhere, but I think that I identify with Naina in a lot of ways. For cinema you exaggerate a lot of things, so I wasn't a geek with glasses in real life... But I think what Naina went through in the first half of the film... less confident and blossoms into something else... I feel that somewhere I have gone through or I am going through that journey. That would be my most favourite.

That is from an identifying point of view but then there is a Veronica which I found extremely challenging because Veronica allowed me to be something and someone I usually am not, so I felt very liberated playing that part. Chennai Express was a lot of fun and Ram-Leela let me be open and speak like that. So it's different you know... every experience is different.

Karo: Like how certain roles allow you to be yourself, does social media allow you to be the person you really are and do you use that as a platform for what you really want to say?

Deepika: No, not really. I don't rely on social media to get across or clarify, if that's what you are asking. There is a lot of s**t everyday, but I don't really take to social media to clarify because it requires too much effort and energy (smiles).

Karo: But don't you have to stop yourself from Instagramming some awesome food you've just eaten?

Deepika: No, I like to keep a lot of things very private. I don't feel the need to share every aspect of my life or wake up every morning and announce to the world how I'm feeling today. I don't think that's important.

Priyanka: And Imtiaz, for you social media is a no-no...

Deepika: You are not even on Facebook!

Imtiaz: I am actually on Facebook, but I don't really go there. I also don't feel the need to tell everybody. Somebody said about Facebook that what you write on Facebook is what you are prepared to stand on top of a building and scream out loud. I don't feel the need to do that at all. The good thing is that we are making movies and a lot of things that are important to us are told there.

Pramita Ghosh: Deepika, what do you do on the days you aren't shooting? We can't really think of you sitting on a sofa and vegetating and watching TV...

Deepika: If I can do that, then nothing like it! I think an actor does many things, or unfortunately, has to do many other things, other than just being on a film set and acting. So, whether it is dubbing or an endorsement or some appearance somewhere, meeting other potential directors, there is a lot of everyday, regular stuff that is also very exciting because no two days will ever be the same. When I am not shooting, I do nothing. I may not even my brush my teeth! (Laughs)

Karo: Don't you ever want to binge? You know, just see something and say, Forget it, I am going to eat this!'

Deepika: I eat everything! There is no diet or anything. I understand my body enough to know that if I eat this everyday, of course one is going to put on weight. But I have no other dietary restrictions. I can eat rice and I eat everything and I eat a lot.

Imtiaz: She can really eat a lot! I have seen it.

Deepika: I am the happiest on a film set where they feed you well. And when the rest of your team is also really passionate, like Imtiaz and Ranbir (Kapoor) are passionate about eating. You finish one meal and you are thinking about the next. You finish that, you are thinking about the next!

Priyanka: Imtiaz doesn't look like that!

Imtiaz: Neither does she (Deepika)!

Deepika: Let me tell you, at a buffet, he starts with dessert and then he moves his way up. Shoojit's (Sircar) team was like that, working with Sanjay (Leela Bhansali) was also like that. All were foodies. It is a misconception that actors don't eat.

Imtiaz: No, they work it out.

Deepika: In fact, we eat the most. And I toh eat a lot. I have to eat every one-and-a-half to two hours.

Deepika fan and t2 reader Musku Ssr (on Facebook): You don't belong to a film family, but your success story has been phenomenal. So, with every success is your sense of achievement bigger?

Deepika: I don't know if I would say sense of achievement. Today where I am, I think I have experienced a bit of both. I think 2013 was just magical in a way that I don't think any of us had expected and I definitely didn't expect it. I didn't think four films would release in the same year, the box office and various other things. There was also the time when Om Shanti Om released and there were four-five films that just didn't do well, except I think Love Aaj Kal, that was the only one that sort of saved me a little bit. So I've kind of experienced both. It is extremely unpredictable I think. And I think that's why the journey for me is more important.

For me, having fun everyday... the experiences of life. Feeling good... waking up happy every morning and doing what I love doing. For me, I think, that's more important. If you top that up with a successful film, then that definitely adds to the experience, but otherwise, for me, the journey is more important. I never take anything " either success or failure " very seriously. I guess that comes from the fact that I have been a sportsman (Deepika has played badminton at the national level). That has really helped me understand success and failure very differently.

Deepika fan and t2 reader Sara (on Twitter): What's that one thing on your bucket list that you guys are dying to do?

Imtiaz (to Deepika): I think you answer first... so that I have time to think! (Everyone laughs)

Deepika: I am that kind of person who likes making notes and lists and ticking off things to do... I love being organised and proper. But I don't know in life if I have a bucket list. I have everyday chores ka list... call so and so, do this, this " but I don't know if that applies to my life.

Priyanka: Nothing like bungee jumping or swimming with sharks?

Deepika: I have done it all! I have jumped out of a plane, I have gone scuba-diving, and I have swum with the sharks. I can give you the cliched answer of I hope I get to work with so and so' or I hope Imtiaz signs me for his next movie again' because when he didn't take me for Rockstar, I was really disappointed! (Laughs, as Imtiaz grins sheepishly) So, those professional things are always there. I think, currently, what I am working on right now, with the little influence that I might be able to have on people's lives, is to be able to help people. I think that's where I am at right now.

Imtiaz: There are so many small things I want to do. There is no big thing that if I don't do I'll die and if I die then, you know... (laughs). I'd like to go to Jerusalem, for instance. I'd like to travel the whole of the Silk Route... maybe travel across to Tajikistan from Kashmir.

Riddhima: Imtiaz, you are the thinking woman's #MancrushMonday, to use the Instagram hashtag. How do you react to being called sexy?

Imtiaz: You guys think you are thinking women?

Deepika: They are journalists, ya! (Laughs)
Imtiaz is stumped and looks around sheepishly and wants the question to be repeated.

Deepika: Wait, get me my phone. I have to record his answer! (Laughs)

Imtiaz: Did she (points at Deepika) tell you to ask me that question?

Deepika: I walked into this office now... with you!

Imtiaz: You must have texted beforehand! (Laughs) Actually, there's not much occasion for me to react to that because no one's ever told me this (grins).
Team t2 (in unison): We find that a little hard to believe!

Deepika: That's a lie! Someone told you that yesterday itself.

Imtiaz: I don't know. I'm glad that you guys find it hard to believe! (Laughs)

Deepika: Can I answer that for him? His line would be, I'm sexy and I know it!'

• Sarita Tanwar

  
  

There are Bollywood movies and there are Bollywood movies you just can't miss. It's something industry insiders know all too well. The trade has its own lists of definitely-maybes and some sureshots. We asked around and here's what they had to share...

TARAN ADARSH,
Trade Analyst

Baby
WHY IT WILL WORK: Because Neeraj Pandey is directing it and because it stars Akshay Kumar. The film has a great subject and audiences will be able to connect with it because it is about an international problem: terrorism. Also, it is the first film of the year with a big star. My money is on it.

Dil Dhadakne Do
WHY IT WILL WORK: Zoya Akhtar has made a name for herself with her kind of cinema. Her approach is fresh and unique. Also, she has an interesting star-cast: Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Priyanka Chopra.

Fan
WHY IT WILL WORK: Shah Rukh Khan will work with Band Baaja Baaraat director Maneesh Sharma for the first time. Moreover, It is a YRF film. And YRF and SRK have always made magic. SRK plays a double role in the film. One as himself and the other as a lookalike fan. Makes for a fantastic story.

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo
WHY IT WILL WORK: Because Sooraj Barjatya is returning to direction after nine years. And he returns with Salman Khan, in a double role, no less! It will be a wholesome family film, the kind the Rajshri brand is known for and which has its own audience.

Bajirao MastanI
WHY IT WILL WORK: It is Sanjay Bhansali's dream project. He has waited a decade to make it. He will put his heart and soul in it. Lead pair Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone will bring to screen the same burning chemistry they had in Ram-Leela.Priyanka Chopra is in it as well. It promises to be grand on every level.

KOMAL NAHTA,
Trade Analyst

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo
WHY IT WILL WORK: Grapevine has it that this film has such a fine script that it would probably be the first film to break PK's record. Sooraj Barjatya and Salman Khan coming together after 16 years is itself an exciting proposition. What's more, all their previousfilms " Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Hum Saath Saath Hain proved winners at the B-O.

Rohit Shetty's untitled film
WHY IT WILL WORK: The two gave each other their biggest blockbuster: Chennai Express. How can there not be sky-high expectations from their next film. The film has no title yet, nobody knows who the heroine is, the trade is unaware about there being more heroes or heroines, but do all these things really matter? Doesn't seem so.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan
WHY IT WILL WORK: The moment I heard the title of this Kabir Khan film, a Salman-Kareena starrer, I have maintained, the Hindu-Muslim' title is itself worth '100 crore. In other words, if the merits of this film are worth '150 crore, it would end up collecting '250 crore all-India. Jokes apart, if Salman-Kabir's last, Ek Tha Tiger could roar' so loudly, one can assume Bajrangi Bhaijaan will do more.

Fan
WHY IT WILL WORK: Every star has millions of fans. The bigger the star, the more the fans. But no big star worth his stardom has ever played a fan. Shah Rukh Khan does that in YRF's Fan. The sheer novelty of the subject is enough to raise expectations of millions of his fans. Every fan, for sure, would be eager to see if Khan's portrayal somewhere or somehow matches their own feelings for their idol.

Bajirao Mastani
WHY IT WILL WORK: Sanjay Leela Bhansali literally gives the audience grandeur of the kind never before seen on screen. For their sheer opulence, his films are worth waiting for. This film will be yet another spectacle. That it repeats the winning team of Ram-Leela (this time PC has a full-fledged role), will be an added bonus.

AMUL MOHAN,
Editor, Super Cinema

Tamasha
WHY IT WILL WORK: For two different reasons: Imtiaz Ali and Ranbir Kapoor coming together after Rockstar. And because of the Ranbir-Deepika Padukone jodi coming together after Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Audiences obviously want more of that chemistry. One of the most anticipated films this year.

Jagga Jasoos
WHY IT WILL WORK: RK after Barfi! with Anurag Basu, a great storyteller. These two always come together with quirky stuff. They push the envelope and their movies, especially Anurag's movies are known for good music. I really look forward to his soundtracks with Pritam. This time, there's some 20 songs or something. Also, Ranbir-Katrina have not been seen in too many films together in the recent past.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan
WHY IT WILL WORK: Bajrangi Bhaijaan is coming on Eid. Salman on Eid is a a very different atmosphere, a different high for audiences and for the trade. People just look out for that date now. It's synonymous now " Salman and Eid. And because the director (Kabir Khan) and the actor gave a blockbuster on Eid a couple of years ago " Ek Tha Tiger.

Fan
WHY IT WILL WORK: SRK and YRF always do good movies. And Maneesh turns producer with YRF for the first time. And by whatever we've heard in the trade, the concept looks really mad. It's a double role where SRK also plays his own fan as a lookalike, that itself is very intriguing for a layman. Maneesh has a very different sensibility as a director and is possibly the youngest of the lot Khan will work with.

Brothers
WHY IT WILL WORK: It's the remake of this very good, underrated Hollywood film calledWarriors. It has a very unique storyline. It's just the idea of two great-looking men (Akshay Kumar and SIdharth Malhotra) fighting it out and going at it like a full, mad action film; not elaborate action, but in-the-ring action. That's something that people don't see in Bollywood anymore.

Source http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-humare-5-2053653