Deepika Padukone talks about working with Priyanka Chopra in BM

When two heroines work together, there obviously is curiosity and excitement for the fans and insecurity and doubt between the two leading ladies. This year, the coming together of Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra in Bajirao Mastani has been a hot subject of debate ever since the film's announcement. The BM teaser will be launched this week. As good a time as any to get Deepika to talk about her rivalry (or rather revelry?) with the competition...

Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh got a joint narration for Gunday. Did Priyanka and you ask for one as well?

No, because Sanjay (Bhansali) doesn't work like that. He prefers dealing with each actor individually. But as far as the film is concerned, I think we are all definitely on the same page.

Isn't it important to know what the role of your co-actor in the film is?

It's really irrelevant. When the film is out, I think it will be there for everyone to see. The priority should be the film. I have never gotten into the length of any of my co-stars' roles.

But isn't it better to be clear about who is playing what part?

I have never asked for a joint narration ever. The last conversation I had with Sanjay was when he signed me as Mastani and he told me that Priyanka was doing Kashi. I said okay.

Would you have played the other role had that been offered to you?

It depends, I don't know because there are a lot of factors that come into play when you say yes to a film. What are the films that you have just done before? What head space are you in, at that point? What are the kind of films you are excited about doing? So, it would be wrong to say yes. It would not be right for me to say yes or no.

Lets talk about the dance-off between you and PC. Did the thought that you two would be compared, play at the back of your mind?

At least from my point of view, I wasn't dancing to look like a good dancer ke achcha chalo ab gana aa gaya toh... Within that dance space, you are still playing the character. So much has happened to my character before I come into the song, so it's also treated like a scene within the song. It should be more than just, Okay, now let's just watch two heroines dancing'. And of course, everyone has a different style of dancing... Most definitely, there will be people who will prefer Priyanka's (dancing) style to mine and there will be people who prefer my style to hers. Fair enough. I don't think, at any point, we tried to outshine or outdo each other...

So it was all friendly when the song was being shot?

Sanjay couldn't handle the fact that two of us... I remember during shooting, one shot was taking very long to set up, so PC and I sat down and were chatting and giggling. Sanjay came to us and said, I was wondering where you two are. I suddenly looked and from my monitor I could see both of you laughing, holding each other's hands. Why don't you'll do phugdi'? In the film, I play Bajirao's lover and she the wife. So there has to be some tension. Sanjay started complaining, You two, from the van only, you start doing phugdi and come to the set.' He is too funny.

You and PC had some strange bonding over raw tomatoes during shooting?

(Laughs) Yes, I made her start having raw tomatoes. I love kaccha salads like cucumber, etc, especially in the heat. So my assistant used to bring me a bowl full like freshly chopped cold tomatoes with lots of salt and chilly powder. I was eating that one day when Priyanka while walking past, looked at my bowl, said "Chee" and walked off. So, I thought okay she is one of those who doesn't like kacha tamatar. Next day, she came on the set and said, Babe, I shouldn't have said Chee, I don't know why I reacted like that. I actually realised that I also used to like tamatar and I haven't eaten it for a very long time.'

So you got her hooked again?

There is a very funny story to this. A few days later, we were shooting and first, she asked her boy to bring tomatoes in two bowls. We ate it. I have to give you some gory details. And you know, that juice that flows out after you cut a tamatar, that juice remains, we had that also, then we looked at each other and we weren't satisfied. So then I sent my boy again, he brought two more bowls. At one point, when we were on the first bowl Ranveer was there " he wasn't needed for a couple of shots " so he had left. An hour later when he came back, we were on the second bowl and he said, "When I left you two were eating. Now, I have come back and you both are still eating tomatoes, what is wrong with you?" We told him it was our third or fourth bowl...

Originally posted by: AvadaKedavra

What is phugdi?

Originally posted by: dhartiamber

Kaccha cucumber is tasty but kaccha tamatar is yuck to taste.