Deepika bags the role of Juliet in Sanjay Leela’s Ramleela

After basking in success of her movie Cocktail Deepika has one more reason to be happy! According to the reports Sanjay Leela Bhansali has roped in the leggy lass in his next project Ram Leela, an adaptation to Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. The actress who will be portraying the character of Juliet in the film is starred opposite Ranvir Singh.  

The Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’s filmmakerwanted to cast an unmarried actress and Deepika suited the requirement perfectly. The role was first offered to Kareena Kapoor. But she walked out of the film citing date problems. It is being said that her impending marriage with Saif is the real reason for her refusal to do the film.

“I walked out a week ago. I allotted 100 days for the shooting in August as per contract but Mr Bhansali wanted more days to shoot. My managers Reshma Shetty and Zahid Khan thought about it and decided it wasn’t possible as I have signed three new big films for next year. The shooting for one of them begins in October immediately after the release of 'Heroine'. I’ve also given 32 days of promotional time for 'Heroine' as it’s a very special film for me. That wouldn’t have been possible if I had given those dates to 'Ram Leela',” said the Jab We Met actress

She also rubbished the rumours of her not doing the film due to her wedding. “I am extremely ambitious and very career-oriented and my personal life has never come in the way of my career. So just back off and let me focus on my work!”

Soon rumours about Priyanka Chopra being considered for the role started doing the rounds. But guess it was Deepika Padukone who was destined to take the role! 

Sources say that Deepika was supposed to do Ekta Kapoor – Karan Johar’s combined project. Since the script was not ready and was taking much time Deepika gave her dates to Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Her power packed performance in Cocktail seems to be working wonders for her! Now lets see if she gives full justice to the role.Now lets see if she gives full justice to the role.

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- Unknown Updated at: Thursday, August 02, 2012

Deepika to be honoured with Smita Patil Memorial Award

2012 seems to be very lucky to Deepika Padukone! After getting rave reviews for her outstanding performance in the romantic triangle Cocktail, the leggy lass is soon going to be awarded with Smita Patil Memorial Award.

The Award is being organized by Priyadarshni Academy which felicitates outstanding individuals from various fields like literature, science and technology, entrepreneurship, science and technology, environment, education, fine arts and films.

Other Bollywood actresses who have won the award are Kareena Kapoor,Preity Zinta, Madhuri Dixit, Urmila Matondkar, Karisma Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Manisha Koirala, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Pooja Bhatt, Dimple Kapadia, Sridevi, Roopa Ganguly, Deepika Chikhlia, Tanvi Kiran.

The award is a tight slap to all those who believed that Deepika couldn’t act. After a span of 5 years in the film industry Deepika’s efforts finally got recognized. But it was not a smooth journey for the dimpled actress.  The Veronica of Cocktail gained instant popularity when she starred in 2007’s blockbuster movie Om Shanti Om opposite superstar Shahrukh Khan. But her later performances weren't too convincing. The actress' role in Bachna Ae Haseena, was a sure disappointment to the critics. According to Taran Adarsh, "Deepika is a sore point. Her role isn't convincing and that's the reason why this performance doesn't work. The only consolation is, she looks gorgeous."

After her average performance in Love Aaj Kal as Meera, NDTV’s Anupama Chopra wrote "Deepika looks fabulous, but she isn't a strong enough actor to breathe life into the character."

She played double role in the disastrously flop movie Chandani Chowk To China. She was seen doing an item number in Rohan Sippy's Dum Maaro Dum starring Abhishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu in the lead. It was a remixed version of Zeenat Aman's iconic song from Hare Rama Hare Krishna. While a leading newspaper stated her moves as "mechanised gyrations", Adarsh wrote, "Deepika scorches the screen in the title track.” She bagged Golden Kela worst actress award for her performance in Aarakshan.

Viewers started saying that although she has looks to kill, she couldn’t act at all. Some were of the opinion that she should get back to modelling. But her mind boggling performance in Cocktail came as a stunner to all. The actress not only received good response for her performance from people but also from critics.

"The big surprise in Cocktail is Deepika, who moves beyond her usual statuesque mannequin pose and gets into the skin of the emotionally raw and needy poor little rich girl. This is easily her best performance to date."

"Deepika hits the bull’s eye with her portrayal of Veronica. Deepika manages to highlight the intricacies of the psyche of a woman who has had a troubled childhood, which propelled her to seek refuge in alcohol and hard core partying" said the critics. Way to go girl!

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- Unknown Updated at: Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Dark Knight to Crush Cocktail, Bol Bachchan ?

Both Cocktail and Bol Bachchan are still young at the box office, but the recent release of 'The Dark Knight Rises' poses a serious threat to the collections of both the movies as it is said that the collections may drop anywhere from 14-25% at multiplexes. The gigantic movie from Christopher Nolan is no silly game and it means serious business. As reported earlier the buzz continues at the iMax theaters for booking and this is in midst of the countless online bookings that keeps happening. 

As of Tuesday Cocktail box-office earnings stood at 46.65 Crores and Bol Bachchan at 78.90 Crores. It was from wednesday that the movies started seeing a serious drop in collections as Cocktail collected only 4.80 crore rupees which is a 15% drop whereas Bol Bachchan did a better business and collected 1.80 Crore which is good compared to the date of release, and it still had a loss of 10%. The movies are not doing bad, when Cocktail still rules the multiplexes and Bol Bachchan hides its heart at Single screens. 

Bol Bachchan as of now stands at 80.7 Crores and Cocktail at 50.85 Crores. The chances of Bol Bachchan‘s touching 100 Crores look lean coz it’ll have to add another 14-15 Crores in it’s 3rd week. However, with the release of The Dark Knight Rises and all the positive reviews flowing in, it seems rather impossible. Both Bol Bachchan and Cocktail are sure to witness steady drops as the Dark Knight Rises to glory.

Although the makers of the movies are still happy that the movies did not nose dive right from the start and they do have a ample amount in collections before the Rise of dark knight hits. The Dark Knight Rises seems to be a tough competitor for the spiderman series which has the highest collection records for a Hollywood movie in India

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- Unknown Updated at: Friday, July 20, 2012

Deepika on Ranbir : We Share Great Friendship

When flames break, they tend to avoid each other, that is the trend, the recent example is of John and Bipasha who have avoided every situation of being together. But this is not the case with Ranbir and Deepika. The ex-flames had took their time off between each other after the breakup but at the moment they do not have any issues working together. The interesting chemistry between the actors were seen in 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Diwaani' sets. 

The actors were working good with each other and what one thought would be tough to shoot was done fabulously by the actors. And the whole crew was praising their commitment and friendship. 

Ask Deepika if she feels bit awkward working with an ex-flame? she says, "No, because I feel if there was any sort of awkwardness we wouldn't have signed or agreed to do the film in first place. The reason why we agreed to do the film together because we knew there would be certain comfort. And I think in that sense we've both handled it very well. We've handled how to keep our personal lives aside and have focused on our professional commitments."

"I think Ranbir is as obsessed about Cinema, movies and work as much as I am. And for us nothing matters more than the work," she adds.

Deepika is quite happy getting back to being friends with Ranbir and she highly respects the camaraderie between them.


Says Deepika, "But on personal note I would like to say we share great friendship. I am glad that we have maintained that. Today I respect that more than anything else."

The romantic flick 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Dewaani' will be releasing by January 2013 and is said to be a fultoo romance entertainer. Deepika also has her movie Cocktail waiting for release this week.

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- Unknown Updated at: Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Joker Trailer To release with Cocktail

Six more days to go for the first promo! 'Joker' which is said to be Akshay's 100th film, directed by Shirish Kunder. The movie has been much talked about due to its controversies but it seems that the production house has cleared the controversy and the first looks will be available on July 12 (controversial news here).

The 39 year old tweeted earlier that " 'Joker' trailer will now release earlier on July 12. So all those who were doing the countdown can minus "1" from it. Six days to go,". Akshay who is well riding on the success and market that 'Rowdy Rathore' brought to him, is all set to repeat the success. The movie does have a storyline which is catchy and is said to pull up more crowd to theaters considering that the Audience just love his desi andaaz.


"Joker" features Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead roles and is set for a Aug 31 release.

Akshay Kumar plays a character who returns to his hometown - a place that's so remote that it's not even on the map. But sequence of events puts the little town not just on the country's map, but makes it the focus of the entire globe.

We hope the Akshay Sona magic happens again!

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- Unknown Updated at: Monday, July 09, 2012

Saif you are under scanner - Kareena Kapoor!

We had told you that there is a chance that Kareena would fly to the sets of Race 2 when her schedule with 'Heroine' completes, but at the time, Kareena's manager had strongly denied the news but it has happened! (click here for the old news) The latest sighting was done at Turkey when Saif and Deepika was surprised by Bebo's visit to the sets. The crew was however excited to see the actress. Kareena Kapoor, who recently finished shooting for 'Heroine', Madhur Bhandarkar's dream project, was eager to reach back to Saif and meet him.

The surprise however has made news whether the actress is too possessive about Saifu! Especially when his favorite co-star is around, as Saif Ali Khan has already mentioned that he finds Deepika Padukone as his best female co-star, it is a bit natural for Kareena to move in and check how things are.

With the wedding dates fixed (or may be not) it seems that the couple is planning to be close to each other whenever possible. 

The cocktail stars had a party bash when the shooting was over, which could also be a reason! As it said by the source, that as soon as the shooting for the movie 'Cocktail' was finished, the crew was all set to move in for a party bash. But our source also says that Saif Ali Khan did not want to go for party but was forced by Deepika and Diana Penty to go along. A source says "Saif ji did not want to go but Deepika and Diana wanted him to go as they felt that he should be around for their safety!". So that's how agent Vinod is playing in real life!

When contacted, co-producer Dinesh Vijan says "Saif is the wittiest person I know. He is very entertaining on set. In Cocktail too, he plays a mast-maula (fun-loving) character. And he's always there to have fun with his co-stars and friends."

Interestingly, in the film too, the trio (Deepika, Saif and Diana) play close friends. And apparently, director Homi was more than happy with their bonding sessions given that they resulted in very strong chemistry on screen too.

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- Unknown Updated at: Friday, June 08, 2012

Deepika does Great White Shark cage dive!

Now that would surprise many as the super model and the bubbly image of Deepika Padukone wouldn't in the faintest of dreams imagine her doing such a stunt. But it seems that she has a adventure side to her character and when she is in mood, nothing stops her from doing the daredevil stunts. The latest event happened up on the sets of 'Cocktail' when the actress decided to do some adventure sports and she was accompanied by none other than the very director of the movie Homi Adajania. The two is said to have went ahead with doing the Great White Shark cage dive.

A source from the sets says, “In Cape Town, Deepika partied through the night at the wrap party and at dawn drove straight to a beach outside the city and set off on a Great White Shark cage dive with director Homi Adajania. Both Deepika and Homi were too much into adventure sports. Dippy is an adventure junkie of sorts. In fact, she has earlier tried sky diving! Sky diving is not very easy and is considered as a serious adventure sport, which she did for Break ke Baad. Dippy is not just into partying but also is a daredevil when it comes to adventure sports.”

Talking about their adventure excursion, filmmaker Homi Adajania says, “Once out in the ocean we got into a huge cage with these massive great white sharks brushing and bumping against it. The water was freezing and we had tight hoodies that made us look like muppets! We laughed hysterically but Deepika is really something else. She enjoys confronting her fears and doesn’t hesitate to jump into the deep end... pretty much the way she approached this role!”

Deepika who is currently busy shooting her upcoming project 'Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani' with Ranbir seems to be finding her pleasure side whenever she has the opportunity.

Deepika also would be found exciting in the movie as she once again does the Bikini  shots and this time its more sensuous. She has also done the red bikini photoshoot for Vogue which is released as well. The slim figure of the actress is much in demand and her popularity still rises even in midst of not-so-good boxoffice records.

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- Unknown Updated at: Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Cocktail is not 'Love Aaj Kal 2' - Deepika

One hit movie under a writer doesn't really implies that the second with the same writer will be a sequel! Thats's what Deepika Padukone explains about 'Cocktail' her upcoming movie with Saif Ali Khan, the movie promos are trending high and has high expectations by the audience. But along with these expectations are the doubts arising, haven't we seen a similar plot in Love Aaj Kal? Now this is the time when the lead actress herself comes in to clarify what they are planning for the movie. 

"The minute people see Saif and me together, they will think about Love Aaj Kal. Yes, of course, Imtiaz has written the script, but it is directed by Homi Adajania who had earlier made Being Cyrus," Deepika told reporters. Cocktail is written by Imtiaz Ali and directed by Homi Adajania. Model Diana Penty also features in it, along with Saif Ali Khan.

"Yes, it is a love story, but it is also about friendship, betrayal, fun and trust. So I think in terms of the film, it is very, very different," she insisted.

She plays the role of a bold young girl who has been found mouthing most of the bold dialogues in the promo, ask her why she did it, "I am not the film's writer. The dialogues were written based on the character that I am playing. Veronica is a very confident girl. She is very self-assured." 

About her role, she says she had the option to choose between the two roles in the movie " Love Aaj Kal was a very different role for me. In this film, I was offered both the roles. My producer Dino (Dinesh Vijan) was kind enough to offer me both the roles. He said that you choose which one you want. I took it as a challenge and Imtiaz (Ali) also suggested to me that since Meera from Love Aaj Kal is so similar to the other character in the film, it would be interesting for me to play Veronica," said the 26-year-old. 

"I am so glad I went with that because when the trailer released two days ago, the response has been fantastic. What people are also reacting to is the fact that they have not seen me play something like this or look like this on-screen," she added. 

Photos have been released of Deepika's bold bikini exposures too, which just adds spice to the movie.

The movie releases on July 13.

Videos of Cocktail here

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- Unknown Updated at: Friday, May 25, 2012