Deepika to Celebrate Her Birthday With Acid Attack Survivors

She will be visiting Lucknow to interact with the women on her birthday.

Deepika Padukone with Laxmi Agarwal at Chhapaak title track launch.

(Photo: Yogen Shah)

This year, Deepika Padukone has a special plan for her birthday. Ahead of the release of her film Chhapaak, in which she plays the role of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal, Deepika and the team will visit a cafe in Lucknow run by acid attack survivors on her birthday and spend time with them. These women are also a part of the movie.

Deepika has been very busy promoting the film which is directed by Meghna Gulzar. Laxmi has been accompanying them and sharing her story with people.

Speaking to The Quint about her most memorable day on the sets of Chhapaak, Deepika said that it was when Laxmi walked in one day. “She looked at me and said, I reminded her exactly of herself. You know, as an actor, there’s no bigger validation than that when the person you’re playing on screen gives you that kind of confidence and validation. Somewhere you feel like you are doing the right thing. You feel like you’re on the right path.”

Deepika also said that there has to be a sense of responsibility while playing characters that are based on real people. “I think at the back of your mind, you’re always cognizant of the fact that this is not fictional or a fictitious character that you can just do whatever you want with it and no one is more likely than not that people will not question it really because it could be whatever you want it to be, as an actor. But when you play a character like this, and that too a living character who comes to your set, who has access to everything that you’re doing, of course, there is  that added pressure. You have to function with a sense of responsibility, the responsibility of playing a person on screen, a real-life character.”

Chhapaak hits theatres on 10 January.