Deepika Padukone Films Which Showed Relationships In Varied Lights

Deepika Padukone has been part of many films which contributed to the way we looked at meet cute relationships. Girl meets a boy (in a heterosexual relationship), fall in love, face major and minor roadblocks and then happily ever after as a concept is unrealistic and a straight line. Relationships are more complex than that as it deals with individuals and their lives. Over the years, actor Deepika Padukone's filmography has shown her taking different characters and showing an evolving understanding of relationships.

When Cocktail was released in 2012, people were astounded by Padukone playing the third woman in the film and her character was stereotyped to be 'bold' and 'outgoing' because her character Veronica was an opinionated woman who made her own choices. The film also featured Saif Ali Khan as Gautam and Diana Penty as Meera. The three leads were shown as friends who met under unexpected circumstances and begin living together. The film smoothly delves into the different aspects of relationships-friendship and romance. Veronica was not an antagonist but a woman with various emotions. The film took the audience into the depth of that.

To date as an actor, Padukone has given films that made audiences question their idea of relationships and their complexities of them. Her characters made one empathise and relate to one darker and unevolved emotions when it comes to relationships with their parents, partners or just with self.

Suggested Reading: Are We All Just Messed Up People? Gehraiyaan To Put A Lens on Millennial Dilemmas?

Deepika Padukone films on relationships and their undeniable complexities:

Gehraiyaan 

The upcoming film of Deepika Padukone is directed by Shakun Batra and features her alongside Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday and Dhairya Karwa. It is co-produced by Karan Johar. The film is all about the illicit relationship between Padukone and Chaturvedi's characters. But as Batra said in a press release, it is not illicit in the garb of finding a soulmate. It is just two people getting together with their complexities in a relationship with too many hanging threads. Chaturvedi's character Zain is engaged to Panday's character Tia but falls for Padukone's character Alisha, who is in a relationship with Dhairya's character Karan. The film addresses the question--Are we just messed up people? It is released on February 11 this year.

Cocktail 

The 2012 film gave us Veronica, a character played by Padukone. She is opinionated and makes her own choices but also has her own problems. She gets into a casual relationship with Saif Ali Khan's character Gautam, who later falls for Diana Penty's character Meera. The film is about messed up people with no one having a holy soul which is what makes them human and relatable. Although the film did hold on to the troupe that the 'good girl' gets the man it also showed Veronica hardly regretting her life and her personality on not getting the man in the end.

Tamasha 

The film starring Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor was not just about romance. It was about people and their mental health issues. It showed the individuals in the most dramatic tone but made them relatable to the audience. The single song sequence- Agar Tum Saath Ho panned the complexity that two individuals are facing in the relationship. It unfolds the dynamics between two troubled people who are breaking up at a cafe in an urban setting but at the same time conscious about their surroundings. The film was indeed about discovering and finding oneself but it was also about the changing situations in a relationship. Padukone's character was in love but also clear on when to end it and know that the man is not the same as she had anticipated.

Deepika Padukone Films Which Showed Relationships In Varied Lights

Piku 

Relationships are of various kinds. It is one with our parents, with our partners, friends, immediate surrounding and importantly self. Padukone plays the role of Piku who is a single working woman who has to take care of her old father, played by Amitabh Bachchan. She is trying to get her stubborn father to Kolkata through a road trip while struggling with her extremely complicated relationship with her boss.  She then ends up meeting Irrfan Khan's character, who drives them from Delhi to Kolkata. She is a child in her heart who curtains herself and looks mature on the outside. But at the same time, she has her priorities sorted when it comes to her father and the man she wishes to spend her time with.

Break Ke Baad 

This 2010 released film is directed by Danish Aslam and casts Padukone as Aaliya and Imran Khan as Abhay, amongst others. Aaliya is not ready to delve into another relationship and even after having a long term friendship with Abhay, she is reluctant. She remains indifferent to his attraction to her for the longest until he announces his wedding. Aaliya is relatable to most of the women because of her reluctance. It only expands on to show that women are not 'creatures' who will fall in love in the blink of an eye. They take their time and understanding. They too are evolving and realising themselves and whom they want to fall in love with.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewane 

Naina played by Padukone is a simple girl who the makers want to pass as a geek. She never does things that her parents disapprove of and studies diligently. But one fine day she leaves it all out of frustration and goes for a trek. She meets Ranbir Kapoor's character Bunny and her other friends there and something changes in her. But she is still focused and becomes a doctor. Her character development is interesting because she gives in to her desires and becomes a rebel but at the same time does not believe in changing herself for the man. She is vocal. Although the film did try to build on the same old idea that a woman becomes desirable after she removes her spectacle and adopts society's idea of attractiveness.