She says that even though she has managed seven films in her three-year-old Bollywood career, she wants a lot more.”I live life on my own terms. I have certain goals that I have set for myself, I want to achieve those goals and I expect a lot from myself. I’m extremely ambitious and I will not stop for anything or anybody. I am a go-getter and I am very rarely satisfied with what I do,” said Padukone.
The 24-year-old, who is currently promoting her new film Lafangey Parindey, says she may have achieved a lot of success in a short time time, but this motivates her to continue doing good work.
“It is still the beginning for me. I have just done around seven films, so there is a lot more that I want to do. (I want to do) a lot more films, work with a lot of directors, give a lot of hit films and get hit songs to my credit which I can perform to later. I know I have come a long way from where I started, but still I have a lot to achieve,” she said.
Padukone is the daughter of legendary badminton ace Prakash Padukone, and stepped into show business as a model and started her film career with the Kannada film Aishwarya in 2006, after which she made a debut in Bollywood opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Farah Khan’s hit Om Shanti Om.
She followed up the success of her first film with Bachna Ae Haseeno, Love Aaj Kal and Housefull, and took up the role of Pinky, a visually challenged girl with an ability to dance on skates in her brand new release Lafangey Parindey.
“What the film is going to do for me professionally, I will have to see after it releases and stays in theatres for a while. For now, the only thing I know is that it has been the most challenging film for me physically, mentally and emotionally,” said Padukone.
After the release of this Pradeep Sarkar film, Padukone will have to work extremely hard as two of her awaited projects, Danish Aslam’s romantic comedy Break Ke Baad and Ashutosh Gowariker’s period drama Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, will release in the space of one week.
“My next film is Break Ke Baad with Imran Khan. It will release in the last week of November, and exactly a week after that, it will be time for Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey on December 3... (It will be a) tough time,” said the actor.
Break Ke Baad is a romantic comedy while in Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, Padukone will portray the revolutionary activist Kalpana Dutta, who took part in the Chittagong uproar for Indian independence in the 1930s.
The film is said to be based on the book Do and Die by Manini Chatterjee, the daughter-in-law of Kalpana Dutta, and unlike many of her other films Padukone will sport a sari-clad, non-glamorous look in it.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 23rd, 2010.
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