Deepika Padukone to unveil a new side of herself in 'Chhapaak': Meghna Gulzar

Deepika Padukone to unveil a new side of herself in 'Chhapaak'. Photo: India TodayDeepika Padukone's lead role as Malti, for upcoming Bollywood film Chhapaak is  going to be a "revelation" in the film, says the director, Meghna Gulzar.The star who is all the rage these days with her back to back stellar on-screen performances, will be playing the character of Malti, an acid attack survivor in the film. The role is inspired by Laxmi Agarwal who was attacked in 2005. The Raazi director shared her views regarding a brief meeting of Deepika and Laxmi and praised the Padmavaat actor for quickly getting along with the character. “It’s amazing how quickly she picked up the stuff. Even her smile that she has throughout the film, it’s not the Deepika Padukone smile. It’s Malti’s smile. Somewhere we found a middle path between Deepika’s and Laxmi’s smile,” Meghna told PTI at International Film Festival of India (IFFI).Meghna is well known for bringing up unconventional stories on screen and she will be doing it again with Chhapaak. She said: “I want to tell unconventional stories and I wish the story goes as far and wide as possible. I try and get people who are the mainstream faces and voices to help the film travel.”The Filhaal filmmaker also talked about her inspiration behind the idea of working on this film. “When I got to know about it, I realized the best way to deal with the issue was to use Laxmi’s case as the anchor. I got in touch with them and it took me a while to convince them that I’m not going trivialize their stories.”Deepika’s makeover for the character took two-and-a-half hours every day all along the shooting span to get the look of Laxmi. She had also posted a picture of her stepping into the avatar as she wrote “A character that will stay with me forever...#Malti”The film, releasing on January 10, 2020 will also be starring Vikrant Massey.