She is pretty, vivacious and extremely stunning, she is Deepika Padukone. An actress who paved her shimmering way to glory with her debut vehicle, the performer who staged an array of emotions in all her characters lighting up the silver screen with aplomb is finally salvaging her newly found creative satisfaction.

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In the last couple of years, she has been the reigning queen of Bollywood and noone could even near her, leave aside touching her. Today as she turns 28, we bring you an interview from our archives, where Dippy decodes her journey in Bollywood and how she slowly catapulted herself to become the new age Golden Girl of B-Town!

Having the passion to dive in:

She found herself subjected to criticism and conjecture right from the onset but with time she has made it to the top. When asked about her secret funda to success, she exclaimed that it's her passion that keeps her going. "Passion is something that should be imbibed in you from the day you realise your goals and your self-set dreams. Without passion, nothing in the world seems achievable and once you have your passion for your work, it is just upon the dedication and hard work that you put in which makes all the difference. Ability and expressions are equally important and once all these four qualities are present in you, coupling them with a little patience and grit can take you a long way ahead", smiled DP!

'Models can't act' is just a myth:

Time and again there have been discussions about how models can hardly act in films. But ever since the 1990s, there have been a flurry of models who have made heads turn as actors. Deepika too is one of them. "Well, there is still a myth that exists in the country about models not being good actors. It is high time that we realise it is all a fallacy. Of all the names you mentioned, I definitely look up to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as a strong role model and the fact that she had always been my inspiration is not hidden. I have loved her from the childhood days, watching and admiring her advertisements, her Miss India triumph and everything else. If by God’s grace, my career shapes up even 1% of what Aish did with her work, I would be blessed. Plus, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra, Juhi chawla has proven the myth wrong time and again", clarified Deepika.

Script - it is:

Veering towards good scripts with strong meaty roles is what Deepika has on her mind, she claims. "The script, without a doubt! Well, you know what, once you have an excellent star cast, hummable music and a brilliant producer roped in for the project, but a film is incomplete without a good script. Once that void is fulfilled, everything else falls in place. For me, I do look for a perfect script to give my nod"

Not a showpiece anymore:

In a male dominated industry, she came and ruled the roster like no other. At a time when the Khans and the Kapoors were bringing in the 100 crore and the 200 crore, she changed the entire ball game. The only Bollywood actor to bring in over Rs 500 crore business to the industry in one year, Deepika is confident of not being an arm candy anymore. "The only thing that makes me happy now is that people have finally realised that I am not just a showpiece in any film. I don’t do films just to look glamorous on my part. Looking good and beautiful on screen obviously is of utmost concern but without good acting, you really cant thrive on anything as a performer. As an actress, I do need to be creatively satisfied with my performances and gladly Cocktail brought the actress in me to the fore."

Life is now like an amusement park:

When asked to describe her entire Bollywood journey, our Meenamma chucked, "I think it has been a great learning experience for me. I am living my dream and it is almost like being in an amusement park. It is so much fun, yaar!"