Mumbai: As a way to portray their characters to the T, actors often undergo image makeovers, or learn diverse skills. Deepika Padukone, too, believes in proper prep. While she learnt languages like Tamil and Marathi for her roles in Chennai Express (2013) and Happy New Year (2014) respectively, now she will be learning sword-fighting and horse-riding for her next project, Bajirao Mastani, that also stars Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra.
The Sanjay Leela Bhasali directorial is set in the 18th century. Ranveer plays a Maratha general in the film and Deepika essays the role of his lover, Mastani.
“I will have to train a lot for this role,” says Deepika, who hasn’t started her training yet as she was busy shooting her other films. “The role demands a lot of preparation. It will be similar to what Ranveer underwent.”
Sharing more details, the actor explains that she would have to train in Kalaripayattu (an Indian martial art which is considered to be the oldest fighting system in existence), sword-fighting and horse-riding. “As I have never done a role that requires any of this, it will be hard. I will have to learn from scratch. Horse-riding should be more fun than sword-fighting, but it will also be stressful as I know that the training would have to be done simultaneously with the shooting of the film. I will shoot probably 12-15 hours a day, and the preparation will be done alongside that,” says Deepika.
