"I think my biggest learning on this film was to not prepare, because that's his (Bhansali) way of filmmaking. It's easier if you go as a blank slate and allow him to mould you. I don't over prepare for scenes anyway.
I always feel like a large part of it should be spontaneous. But you have to prepare a little. After 2-3 days I realised it (preparation) won't work with him," Deepika said at the unveiling of Starweek magazine here yesterday.
"Everyday is a new day when you are working with him and I think that nervousness has made me understand my craft a lot more," she said. In the film, Deepika is paired opposite Ranveer Singh and their on-screen chemistry has caught everyone's attention. "He has a lot of energy. He has done a lot of research for the film and he's an extremely helpful co-star.
It's been wonderful working with him and I think he is one of the finest actors of our generation," she said. Ranveer feels he makes the best pair with Deepika. To this, she says, "But I've had great chemistry with three other people as well Ranbir, Saif and Shah Rukh. So I think chemistry lies in the script, dialogues and in the way the characters are written."
In 'Ram-Leela', Deepika is a Gujarati girl while in her last film 'Chennai Express' she played a Tamilian girl. "There was a point where I was shooting both these films at the same time. I haven't done a film ('Ram-Leela') which is so rustic and earthy," she said.
Deepika also rubbished rumours of a body double being used for her in 'nagada sang dhol' song. "Who is spreading these rumours? You want to see the sores of my feet? How badly the skin has come off? I've worked very hard, don't take away the credit," she said.
Deepika and fellow actress Priyanka Chopra happen to be good friends and the latter even did a special song in 'Ram-Leela'. "I was in Dubai for 'Happy New Year' while they were shooting the song, so I didn't know what they were going to do with it. I had heard the track and sir had told me about it. The first time I saw the song was when it released and I think she has done such a flawless job.
I saw it I was floored," Deepika said. This year Deepika had three hit films - 'Race 2', 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani' and 'Chennai Express' - and now she has 'Ram-Leela' up for release on November 15. "I hope 2014 is as special for me as 2013 was.
At the beginning of the year the only thing I knew was that I was going to have four releases. I didn't know how each film was going to do. Each film was so different from the other. It also tested me in terms of the amount of work I was doing," the actress said.
"There was a point I was doing 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani', 'Chennai Express' and shooting 'Ram-Leela' all at the same time. But looking at the result of the above first two films I can't complain. It was worth it," she said. Deepika feels a bit nervous about the expectations from the audience.
"I am a little nervous, a little anxious but I think it's always nice to have that feeling. It's like a test. Every Friday is that moment of truth where you've believed in a film, given your sweat and blood and the only thing that you can do is hope the audience sees the same thing that you saw in that film," she added.