Deepika Padukone said playing ‘Veronica’ was a ‘turning point’ in her life.

The swashbuckling character of ‘Veronica’ played by Deepika Padukone in the 2012 romantic comedy ‘Cocktail’ seems to have left a huge impact on the actor herself. As the movie turned 9 the actor revealed a lot about the character influenced her personally, as she added that playing ‘Veronica’ was a ‘turning point’ in her life. Veronica was a bubbly, feisty, undaunted, crazy yet thoughtful girl who even gave up on her heart for best friend so that they could live happily, she wore her heart on her sleeve and lived life by her rules.

In a chat with Hindustan Times, Deepika agreed that Veronica’s role for her in Cocktail turned out to be a turning point for her. “If a character resonated with millions, then obviously there was something about it that audiences empathised with.” Further, talking about it, she also said that Veronica will always be one of her most special characters as it changed everything for her professionally and personally as well. She added, “Veronica will always be one of my most special characters I’ve played; one that changed a lot for me professionally and impacted me personally.”

She further added, while reading the script she not only had ‘butterflies’ in her tummy but also knew that she was ready for the role. “After a couple of days and giving it some thought, I understood what meant and saw what he saw.” She also credited Homi Adajania, director of Cocktail, for giving her confidence to play Veronica. She said, “I don’t think I would have been able to do what I did if it wasn’t for Homi Adajania. He gave me wings to fly and made me believe I could do no wrong.”

Having worked before with Saif Ali Khan in ‘Love Aaj Kal’ they once again were able to pull off a beautiful chemistry between them which gave the viewers ‘butterflies’ as these two characters onscreen shared a lovely bond and set standards of friendship which made the viewers soft and more attached with them. From their romantic moments to their quirky fun like the dance on ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’ in the film, everything seemed to leave an impact. Their chemistry impressed fans so much that Padukone went ahead and effortlessly aced her role in Race 2 as well with Saif.

As Veronica was portrayed as a grey character towards the end who herself felt heartbroken at the loss of her own love but decided to help her two best friends get together, Deepika gracefully brought flavours of everything in a controlled manner. From being the party chick to being the emotionally vulnerable girl who is just looking for real friendship, Deepika as Veronica managed to successfully bring to life every emotion. She also gave us a glimpse of how comfortable she was at playing a girl with emotional vulnerability. All in all, her role as Veronica gave her a chance to explore different shades and it was a refreshing change for the audience.

Not only this, Deepika also focused on her look as Veronica as she personified that on-screen and we’re very different from her past characters in films.

Deepika was offered Meera aka Diana Penty’s role. However, she zeroed in on Veronica due to the courage and conviction of Imtiaz Ali. She told a portal back in the day that doing Veronica was risky for her. However, she had revealed that she wanted to do it. She had told PTI, “Veronica is completely different from anything that I have ever played on-screen. I could not relate to the character at all. That is the reason it was very challenging for me. Veronica is very fiery, feisty and super confident. It was out of my comfort zone. I took a risk, went out of my comfort zone by deciding to essay Veronica.”

Post playing Veronica, Deepika’s league changed and she soon was seen on the screen in the impressive movies like Race2, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, Goliyon ki Rasleela: Ram-Leela, Chennai Express, Bajirao Mastani, Padmaavat etc.

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