Deepika on starring in SRK's 'Jawan': Whenever he wants, I will always be there
Mumbai (PTI): Actor Deepika Padukone on Friday said she never thought about the length of her role in Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Jawan" as she has a lot of love for the actor and would always be there for him.
Deepika, who made her debut opposite Shah Rukh in "Om Shanti Om" in 2007 and has collaborated on films like "Chennai Express", "Happy New Year" and "Pathaan", had an extended cameo as Aishwarya Rathore in the Atlee directorial, which has become a blockbuster at the ticket window, raising close to Rs 700 crore in worldwide gross.
At the film's success press conference, Shah Rukh joked that he and Atlee "fooled" Deepika into believing that she had a cameo in the film when she was one of the main characters.
"Deepika is feeling the most awkward, I will tell you why, because she feels, "main to dosti me chhota so role karne aa gayi thi', but between me and Atlee, we fooled her and shot a full length movie with her.
"When she saw the film she was like, 'Oh I am one of the main characters'.... but thank you Deepika from the bottom of our heart for being part of this film," he said, calling the actor "a family".
Deepika said the team of "Jawan" approached her with the part when she was shooting for Nag Ashwin's "Project K", now titled "Kalki 2898 AD", in Hyderabad.
"They narrated the whole story to me and told me this very important part of Aishwarya and for me, it was not about the length of the role. It was the impact that this character is going to have on the entire film. So it was two-fold for me, one is everyone knows my love for him (SRK). Whenever he wants, I will always be there.
"But also, the movie was so special that as any actor, not just me, if offered the part, they would say yes to it because it was about the vision. I think all of us, everyone here has invested in that vision. It's not about how big or small your role was. It was about the story we were telling, the impact that this movie was going to have on the lives of this amazing audience."
"Jawan" features Shah Rukh in the role of Vikram Rathore and his son Azad. The movie highlights various social and political issues through the story.
Deepika's Aishwarya is the wife of Vikram Rathore and mother of Azad. Her scenes are played out in the flashback.
Shah Rukh said he thought about Deepika playing a mother while they were shooting "Besharam rang" track for "Pathaan".
"... I am sitting, and I look at Pooja (Dadlani, his manager) and I said, 'ye maa ka role karegi kya?' so I am looking at Deepika during the 'Besharam rang' and thinking 'She will be very good as a mother, no,'."
SRK said when Pooja asked Deepika, she instantly agreed.
"For her to have done this role, also as an actor, is very gutsy. I always say 'there are no small roles, there are only small actors'. I think with this film, Deepika proves to everybody that she really is a large size actor, big size actor. Thank you Deepika," he added.
Asked whether there were any apprehensions about playing an onscreen mother, Deepika said there were none.
"I don't think that I am playing sultry in one movie, and a mother in the next. I personally didn't approach it like that. I invested in the vision, in the story, if that meant I play the role of a mother, to enable the storytelling, so be it," she said.
Shah Rukh and Deepika were joined by the film's director Atlee as well as co-star Vijay Sethupathi at the event.
Actor Nayanthara, who played Narmada in the movie, was absent due to her mother's birthday and SRK led the crowd to sing happy birthday for them.
The team later played a video message that she sent to express her gratitude for all the love coming her way.
"Namaste Mumbai, it is an absolute honour to be addressing all of you. Even though I'm not there in person, I want to send a big hug to my friends and fans. I wanted to be there but today there is a special occasion for my family and I wanted to spend this time with them.
"I have been reading all of your messages and I have to say it is absolutely overwhelming. Your support means the world to me and I am extremely grateful for it. And of course, a big thank you to my co-star and the entire team for giving me the opportunity to play Narmada," the actor said.
Working on "Jawan" was a journey "filled with laughter, challenges and growth", she added.
"Speaking of growth, I want to thank Shah Rukh sir. To share the screen with him and witness his exceptional talent and lively energy in person was truly fabulous," she added.
The film also stars Sanya Malhotra, Priyamani, Girija Oak, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Lehar Khan, Aaliyah Qureshi, Ridhi Dogra, Sunil Grover and Mukesh Chhabra as well as Sanjay Dutt in a cameo appearance.
A Red Chillies Entertainment presentation, "Jawan" is produced by Gauri Khan and co-produced by Gaurav Verma.
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TMC MP Saket Gokhale slams Bihar electoral roll revision, claims 1.26 crore voters 'deleted'
New Delhi(PTI): Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale on Monday said 1.26 crore voters have been "deleted" from Bihar's electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and challenged the government to a debate on the issue in Parliament.
Sharing the Election Commission's SIR data in a post on X, Gokhale said the poll panel "conveniently" did not share any information regarding its claim of having found foreign nationals in Bihar.
As the month-long first phase of the SIR has concluded, the EC on Sunday said that enumeration forms from 7.24 crore or 91.69 per cent of voters of the state have been received.
It also said 36 lakh people were found to have either permanently shifted from their previous addresses or were not found. It pointed out that seven lakh Bihar voters were found to have enrolled themselves at multiple places.
"ECI has deleted 1.26 crore voters in Bihar from the 2024 Lok Sabha voter list overnight," Gokhale, the TMC Rajya Sabha MP, said on X.
Calling the details revealed by the EC "bizarre", Gokhale pointed out that of a total of 7.90 crore voters, forms have been collected from only 91.69 per cent -- 7.24 crore voters.
"This means that forms were not collected from 65 lakh voters, and they will be deleted. About 22 lakh voters (2.83 per cent) have been deleted because they're claimed to be deceased, about 36 lakh voters (4.59 per cent) have been deleted because they're claimed to be untraceable, and about 7 lakh voters (0.89 per cent) claimed to be found as duplicate entries so half i.e. 3.5 lakh entries deleted," he said.
"ECI has conveniently not disclosed how many voters were found to be non-citizens of India. This is important because ECI had claimed that the SIR was being done to 'remove illegal immigrants'," Gokhale said.
EC sources had earlier said their field-level functionaries found "a large number of people" from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar during house-to-house visits made for the ongoing intensive review of the voters' list in Bihar.
Gokhale further said the names "deleted" were on the voters' list in the last Lok Sabha polls.
"A total of 1.26 crore voters in Bihar, whose names were on the Lok Sabha 2024 voter list just one year ago, have been deleted from the new voter list," he said.
"To give you a comparable idea, the number of deleted voters in Bihar during the current SIR is equal to the entire combined population of Uttarakhand plus Himachal Pradesh or the entire combined population of all 6 states of the North-East (excluding Assam)," he said.
He said EC needed to answer some questions "urgently".
"The voter list was revised by ECI before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. How on earth did 1.26 crore voters become ineligible in just one year?" he said.
"How many voters has the ECI been unable to reach for collecting their forms? Under the rules of SIR, those whose forms were not collected will be deleted. Therefore, what is the total number of voters whose names have been deleted only because their forms were not collected?" he questioned.
He said the EC has not collected documents along with the forms from all 7.24 crore voters.
"Does this mean that more voters will be deleted if their documents have not been collected with their forms?"
He reiterated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's statement that the SIR exercise "is NRC by the back door".
"ECI had claimed 'removing foreigners from the voter list' as one of the reasons for conducting this SIR. Why has the ECI not disclosed how many actual 'foreigners' were found and deleted from the voter list during this SIR?" he said.
"It makes zero sense that 12 million people in Bihar have become 'ineligible' voters in just one year between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections till date... When 12 million people in a single state lose the right to vote overnight, it is a serious issue," he said.
He added that the opposition MPs have been pressing for a debate on the issue.
"Why is the Modi Govt so scared to have an open discussion on this in Parliament?" he added.
Meanwhile, the EC has asserted that no names will be deleted from draft rolls without following due process.
VERY IMPORTANT AND SHOCKING
— Saket Gokhale MP (@SaketGokhale) July 28, 2025
ECI has deleted 1.26 CRORE voters in Bihar from the 2024 Lok Sabha voter list OVERNIGHT
Last night, the ECI published details of ongoing "special intensive revision" of the electoral roll being conducted in Bihar. The deadline for collection of forms… pic.twitter.com/E7x2egYfCw
