Deepika Padukone is now an all-rounder: Farah Khan

The Chennai Express star duo is booked for the upcoming movie Happy New Year. PHOTO: FILE

NEW DELHI: Farah says Deepika leaves her impressed with her all-rounder quality. “I’m so happy that Deepika is in Happy New Year,” Farah told IANS.

She can only look back with a smile at how Deepika has emerged in a league of her own. The actor delivered four back-to-back hits at the Bollywood box office in 2013 — Race 2, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Chennai Express and Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela — and has emerged as a hero among heroes, quite literally. Each role and film was different from the other and each sailed smoothly to the ‘100 crore club’ at the box office.

Deepika recently clinched the Best Actress, Popular Choice and Jury’s Choice accolades at the Life OK Screen Awards, where she also staged a startling dance performance.

For Farah, Deepika is an all-rounder. “Maybe she was very good-looking, she had a fabulous body and she could dance, but in Om Shanti Om, we presented her really well. After that I felt her potential wasn’t being exploited — either she was not acting too well or the directors were not using her well. But I think in the last two years, she has really come into her own and it’s not shocking that sometimes she does a scene and I’m like ‘great,’” says Farah.

The choreographer-filmmaker remembers how during the shooting for Om Shanti Om, she had to tell Deepika everything about acting in front of a camera. “’Look left, look right, now turnaround, now smile’, I used to tell her. But now she comes prepared and does something wonderful in front of the camera,” says the filmmaker.

Happy New Year features a cast of six actors — Shahrukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood, Vivaan Shah and Deepika.

The casting for the role that Deepika plays in the movie went on for almost a year, recalls Farah, and the media playing a guessing game for a long time.

“For Om Shanti Om, I was confident I wanted a newcomer. And for this one [Happy New Year], I felt I needed a top actress to hold the drama between five guys together. Deepika was perfect,” she adds.

“She’s got such a pivotal role. She’s the only girl and she’s literally their coach and teacher. Deepika has become such a good actress that even I was shocked sometimes with her acting,” said Farah.

The movie is currently being shot, and it will be ready for release around Diwali this year.