For Me, Malti Is Deepika And Deepika Is Malti, Says Meghna Gulzar As She Wraps 'Chhapaak'!

On March 25, Deepika Padukone started shooting for her maiden home production, Chhapaak. On June 4, with her arms around her director and co-producer Meghna Gulzar and Vikrant Massey who plays a character modeled on social activist and Laxmi Agarwal¡¯s partner, Alok Dixit, she announced that it was a wrap for the film.

¡°It was always scheduled to finish in 43 days,¡± exults Meghna who has been working on the subject for over a year.

The film will open on January 10, 2020, because, as she points out, there is still a lot of work to be done, from editing and special effects to songs and background score.

¡°A wrap is an emotional experience, more so for Chhapaak, because everyone working on it made it their own,¡± smiles Meghna, quick to say that Deepika¡¯s character will stay with her for life.

¡°There is Malti, and then there is Deepika who became Malti. Malti¡¯s presence on screen reflects the expression in Deepika¡¯s eyes and on her face which comes through the prosthetics. For me, Malti is Deepika and Deepika is Malti.¡±

It was not easy for the leading lady to transform into an acid attack survivor. Deepika had to sit through two-and-a-half hours of prosthetics every day. ¡°But you won¡¯t see all that she went through behind the scenes on screen. And that¡¯s the most beautiful part,¡± applauds Meghna.

She informs that that they had been working on Deepika¡¯s look since last September and credits their prosthetic designer, Clover Wootoon, for bringing their vision to life.

¡°I didn¡¯t want people to watch this film with their eyes shut, the idea was not to create Laxmi¡¯s face on Deepika but something that would be Deepika¡¯s face had it been scarred the way Laxmi¡¯s was,¡± explains Meghna who is partnering Deepika and Fox Star Studios on the project.

Ask her if Laxmi visited the sets and the filmmaker states that the film is not just a biopic of Laxmi Agarwal, but an attempt to shed light on the larger issue of acid violence in the country. ¡°Yes, Laxmi did visit the set a couple of times in Delhi and has been in constant touch through the writing and the prep.

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She knows the script and screenplay and is happy that the story is being told. But this isn¡¯t just a story based on her life, it focusses on the issue in a larger perspective,¡± she maintains, adding that she doesn¡¯t tell stories with end goals in mind but stories that resonates with her.

¡°Yes, this is an important subject, but change comes at a later stage. The first step is awareness and acceptance. Everything else will be a result of that.¡±

After directing thrillers like the Irrfan Khan-starrer Talvar and Alia Bhatt¡¯s Raazi, she¡¯s moved to intense drama with Chhapaak. Was it a planned move? ¡°Even Raazi was touted as a drama before its release, it became a thriller once people saw it. Ditto Talvar. So, I¡¯d want people to see the film before deciding its genre,¡± she concludes with a smile.