Deepika: Post break-up, Ranbir and I have become closer

It is hard to take your eyes from the beautiful Deepika Padukone. Dressed in polka-dotted top and blue denims, the actress looks comfortable as she settles down for the interview.

After making a successful debut in Om Shanti Om, in 2007, Deepika has not only matured as an actress but has learned how to balance her career and her life.

She is paired opposite her ex-boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor in her next film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, releasing on May 31.

The 27-year-old-actress has never shied away from speaking her mind. In this conversation with Sonil Dedhia, Deepika talks about working with Ranbir, how she deals with compliments about her looks and insists that glamour has nothing to do with a film's success.

You were recently voted the most desirable woman in a poll carried out by a newspaper. How do you view such compliments?

It is a bit embarrassing. I don't know how to take these compliments.

I have always maintained that people should find me desirable for the person I am. I hope the poll doesn't have much to do with beauty and physical attributes because that, for me, is all artificial.

The focus has been more on your pairing with Ranbir Kapoor than the film itself. Does that bother you?

The fact is that we are comfortable working with each other and hence we decided to sign a film.

Ayan (Mukerjee, director) knows us best and if he felt that we would be awkward or uncomfortable with each other, then he wouldn't have cast us.

When you are doing a scene, you don't think he or she was my ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend. Ranbir played his character and I played mine.

Was there any awkwardness the first time you met after you mutually decided to break up?

There has never been any kind of awkwardness. Every moment spent with Ranbir has been very special. 

Post the break-up, we have probably come closer than we were during our relationship.

People don't understand the level of maturity that both of us have reached. We have immense amount of respect for each other.

How do you think Ranbir has grown as an actor? 

I don't think he has changed as a person. He is the same person that I have known for the last six years.

He is a fine actor and I knew it right from his first film.

I feel Ranbir's success is my success and his failure is my failure. That is the relationship we share. 

Ayan Mukerjee in his interview mentioned that Ranbir and you are the best on-screen pair and have a sizzling chemistry...

Ranbir and I have a good on-screen chemistry. It feels good that people liked us in the promo and I hope it has nothing to do with us being an ex-couple.

We are compatible and look lovely on screen. There is no reason for that; we are just lucky to have good chemistry. Chemistry cannot be created -- either you have it or you don't.

In your last few films, your looks have been much talked about. Do you spend much time deciding how you want to look in a film?

It is something that every actor is doing today. My character in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has been styled by Manish Malhotra; it is his vision of my character.

The transformation of my character is done beautifully by him. I did not have to do any major preparation for the role as I identify a lot with this role.

When I performed the scenes, I did feel that Ayan took a lot of inspiration from me and my life as he knows me pretty well.

You have done both glamorous as well as non-glam roles. Your glamorous films have done much better. Do you think that your audience likes to see you in such roles?

I don't think glamour has anything to do with a film working or not. The film has to be exciting or entertaining for the audience.

If I go back, Cocktail was a great performance for me and it was also glamorous. So you can have glamour and a great performance at the same time.

I don't understand why people think glamour means no acting. Just because someone dresses up and looks good, that does not mean that they can't act.

If a role requires you to be glam and dolled up, then you have to be that.

You are a public figure and are exposed to rumours about yourself. How do you deal with it?

After a point, you become immune to being written about. I am not saying that it doesn't bother me and the media should just keep writing what they feel.

At the end of the day, I work hard and I want my work to be appreciated. I want the audience to love me for the person I am.

A lot of the times, these stories are misleading and people believe them. We are also human beings and you feel that I have not done this, so why am I being written about in a certain way.

But you have to be focused on your work and accept that this is part of the work you do.

Do you like to read gossip about your contemporaries?

Yes, but that doesn't make me feel good. I am aware that the next day I could be at the receiving end.

You have worked with both senior actors and your contemporaries. Who are you most comfortable with?

I think personally I am a lot more comfortable with a Ranbir or a Ranveer Singh. I guess it has a lot to do with similar age group.

When we talk about Shah Rukh Khan or Saif Ali Khan, they have been in the industry for so many years. There is a certain kind of respect that you give them.