We, as an audience, last saw Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmaavati in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s creation Padmaavat, and she undoubtedly allured everyone with her charm, beauty, and her splendid performance. After the humungous success of that movie, Deepika Padukone is all set to be back with another movie Chhapaak, which will be directed by Meghna Gulzar.
Deepika Padukone took to the Twitter on Monday to share her first look where she wrote, “A character that will stay with me forever…#Malti,”. She also shared the release date of the movie i.e. January 10, 2020. Netizens are also extolling her for her look, and for selecting such a potent role.
Similarly, Meghna Gulzar, who is directing the movie, also took to Twitter on Monday to share her thoughts. She referred to Deepika Padukone’s character ‘Malti’, as courage and hope.
The movie Chhapaak is based on the life of an acid attack survivor, Laxmi Agarwal. Laxmi, who was born to a middle-class family in New Delhi, dreamt of becoming a singer someday. When she was on her way to a bookshop in Khan Market, she was attacked by a 32-year old Naeem, because she had rejected his advances! After the attack, she lay on the street, crying in pain, until a taxi driver came forward and rushed her to the nearby Safdarjung hospital.
Laxmi said in an interview, ‘I went through multiple surgeries and was in the hospital for three months. There were no mirrors in the ward I was in. Every morning, the nurse would bring me a bowl of water to help me freshen up, and I would try to catch my reflection in that water. I would only see glimpses of a bandaged face. When I first saw my face afterward, I felt shattered physically and mentally. I had no face to speak of’.
At first, she felt devastated, but then she gathered courage and stability, and became stronger mentally with every passing day. She also became the voice of acid attack survivors; she was honoured by former US First Lady, Michelle Obama, with the International Women of Courage Award.
Laxmi fell in love with a guy named Alok Dixit, who is a social activist. The couple decided to be in a live-in relationship instead of getting married. She later said in the interview, ‘We are challenging the society by not getting married. We don’t want people to come to our wedding and comment on my looks’. Sometime later, Laxmi and Alok had a baby girl, Pihu, although, the couple got separated eventually due to some differences. Pihu’s custody has been given to her mother.
She said in an interview, “Many people offered me jobs after reading the news of my current situation, and I am very thankful to them. News has a short shelf life and after some time, it holds no value. However, I want the government to offer me a job as I have to support my mother, as well as my daughter. I have to bring her up single handedly.”
Talking about the film, Deepika Padukone will also be producing the movie Chhapaak. Deepika shared that earlier she didn’t intend to take on the role as she was looking for something lighter after doing three consecutive intense films, but when Meghna Gulzar narrated the script to her, she wept and was too overwhelmed to refuse to play the role of Malti in Chhapaak. The movie also stars Vikrant Massey as Malti’s partner.
After Chhapaak’s first look shared by Deepika Padukone and Meghna Gulzar on Monday, it can clearly be seen in Deepika’s eyes that her transformation has been supremely effortless. It’s safe to say that no one else could have done more justice to this character.