RAM-LEELA Updates Thread #2, Index on pg1 - Page 5

Bollywood actors Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone joined critic Anupama Chopra on The Front Row,' to talk about their on-screen chemistry, working with director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and meeting high expectations.

Their film, "Ram-Leela," a romantic drama, releases Nov. 15.

Edited excerpts:

Anupama Chopra: It's rare to see a couple scorch the screen like this. How do you construct this level of heat?

Ranveer Singh: I don't think you can credit it to anything from this world. It's inexplicable. None of us can take credit for it either. We can give it to Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He makes sure that his actors bring the best to the table. He understands that in a film like "Ram-Leela", the essence and the core of the film would be the chemistry between the leads.

Deepika Padukone: I think a large part of it is in the way that it's written.  It's also in the kind of equation that our director has with us. He knows what buttons to press to get that. In a love story like "Ram-Leela" it's very important to have that kind of chemistry. Otherwise I think the love story just falls flat.

Anupama: Sanjay Leela Bhansali reworking Shakespeare - clearly the idea here is to create a grand, epic romance. As actors, were you ever weighed down by the heightened pitch of the film?

Ms. Padukone: I felt very burdened.  I had very little time to prepare and with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, expectations are soaring.

Mr. Singh: Yes, because Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a volatile creator. He feels like the best will come out of you when your back is against the wall for some reason. But he puts you on the spot, he throws you that challenge, but then after he has done that, rest assured he will do everything in his power and ability to give you the support to be able to meet that challenge.

Anupama: Ranveer, you had described yourself as someone who is just inherently over the top. But that's exactly what "Ram-Leela" feels like. Did that make you feel at home?

Mr. Singh: Absolutely. It could not be truer than that. I feel I am the ultimate Bhansali actor. He loves histrionics. I do histrionics. I love theatrical acting. He loves this high drama. I am all about it. He loves song and dance. So I was on home territory.

Anupama: Deepika, you have said that none of your other co-stars have been as uninhibited as Ranveer. In what way is he uninhibited?

Ms. Padukone: Uninhibited is uninhibited. There is no thought or worry or How am I going to look or how am I going to do this or will I look silly doing it?'  Even as a co-star, if you need him to give cues or you just need his energy on set, he is there.

Anupama: The lyrics to the song "Ishqyaun Dhishqyaun" go: Ladaku vimaan hai par tu meri jaan hai, bistar yeh tera mera jung ka maidan hai' (Translation: You are a firebrand but you are my life. Our bed is our battlefield). Clearly the sexuality is in your face with this film. 

Mr. Singh: It's that kind of movie. There is so much passion and I love the fact that it's so plausible, so natural.  So where does love really begin, what's that one starting point? It's when you look at a person and you are taken in by the visual. So first it starts with a physical attraction and there is lot of that in the film. It's a very passionate love story.

Ms. Padukone: I guess [Sanjay Leela Bhansali] has also tried to capture what he feels the youth today is going through, they don't hold back. If you feel, you feel and you express. You are not scared. You are not worried. I think that's what we have tried to capture through the film and through our characters.

Watch "The Front Row with Anupama Chopra" Friday at 8:30 p.m. on Star World for the full conversation with Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone. For more details on the show log on to their website. Follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.

Follow India Real Time on Twitter @WSJIndia.