Deepika Padukone is the latest Bollywood star to go international and the actress says although she is proud to have bagged “XXX: The Return of Xander Cage”, she is nervous about venturing into a new territory. The 30-year-old “Bajirao Mastani” actress will share screen with Hollywood Vin Diesel and Samuel L Jackson in the DJ Caruso-directed action thriller, which is the third installment of the “XXX” film franchise.
Deepika says her ethnicity helped her bag the role and in the film she will be given an opportunity to flaunt her Indianness. “I am very excited. But I want to confess that I am very nervous. Most importantly, I feel proud to be a part of a film where I get to flaunt my ethnicity,” Deepika said. “The reason they are roping me is because of my background. I really hope that I do well in the movie and people go and watch it,” said the actress, who was in the capital for the launch of the new collection from luxury Swiss watchmaking company, Tissot.
Besides Deepika, another Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, who recently made her American TV debut with “Quantico”, has reportedly bagged a role in “Baywatch” movie opposite Dwayne Johnson.
Back home Deepika has been making the right noises and had a tremendous year in 2015 with the success of her films “Piku”, “Tamasha” and “Bajirao Mastani”. The actress says it has been her constant effort to keep improving every year and she is happy to see her efforts pay off two years in a row. “I work to compete with myself and keep setting the benchmark for myself, to keep bettering. After a successful 2014, I hoped I can do better and then it happened in 2015. It is my constant desire to keep improving,” she said.
With back-to-back film shoots and other commitments, the actress says she hardly gets time off. But despite her busy schedule, Deepika makes sure she reads and also tries her hands at baking. “I haven’t got a weekend for the past three years. But when I do get it, I like to just catch up on sleep. I also love baking and reading. Currently, I am reading the biography on Elizabeth Taylor,” she said.