Deepika Padukone is beloved by Bollywood fans and audiences in India and beyond. She is best known by Western fans for her role in xXx: Return of Xander Cage. Now Deepika is back to wow us with her latest role – where she will give fans a whole new view on what she can do.
Deepika Padukone will be wowing audiences in her new role in Chhapaak, from director Meghna Gulzar.
The movie will see Padukone take on the character of Malti, an acid attack survivor who is inspired by Laxmi Agarwal, who was attacked in 2005.
According to Gulzar, who has not worked with Padukone before, the actress was a “revelation” as she took on the challenging role, showing the shock and difficulty of going through such a terrifying ordeal.
Speaking to PTI at the International Film Festival of India, Gulzar said: “It’s amazing how quickly she [Padukone] picked up the stuff.
“Even her smile that she has throughout the film, it’s not the Deepika Padukone smile. It’s Malti’s smile.
“Somewhere we found a middle path between Deepika’s and Laxmi’s smile.”
Gulzar revealed she tries to use mainstream faces to help unconventional stories go far and wide, but this story is to deal with an issue.
She added: “When I got to know about it [Laxmi’s story], I realised the best way to deal with the issue was to use Laxmi’s case as the anchor.
“I got in touch with them and it took me a while to convince them that I’m not going trivialise their stories.”
Padukone posted an image from the poster of the movie, where stage make-up has been used to show the shocking effects of the acid attack, meaning the actress’s face is not what people would expect.
There is evident scarring around her mouth and nose, while her forehead and other parts of her face look slightly discoloured.
However, Padukone is smiling in the way Gulzar described, which has been turned into “Malti’s smile” as a woman who will not back down from the public eye despite the brutal and horrifying way in which she has been treated.
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According to one synopsis, the plot reads: “The trials and triumphs of Malti, an acid attack survivor.
“From the investigation of the attack to the court proceedings, the medical treatment to the emotional healing.
“Chhapaak is the story of the unquashable human spirit.”
Chhapaak is out in cinemas in India on January 10, 2020