Deepika Padukone, who was last seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat, is all set to star in and co-produce Meghna Gulzar's directorial Chhapaak, a film based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. Joining DP will be Vikrant Massey, who will portray the role of Laxmi's partner Alok Dixit who is the founder of Stop Acid Attacks campaign. Now as the film goes on floors in the third week of March, Meghna has begun readings with her cast and revealed how the team is prepping for the project.
In an interaction with a leading daily, Meghna said, "First, I read individually with each character, then I start pairing them as their combination would appear in the movie. Two to three weeks before the shoot, I will have a cast and crew reading where the entire film will be read," further adding that she will facilitate the meeting between the Deepika, Vikrant, and Laxmi before they begin shooting.
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Further praising her lead actors, the Raazi filmmaker stated, "Vikrant is more external and expressive. In comparison, Deepika's process is far more internalised. With Vikrant, I can hear and see [his emotions] and with Deepika, I can feel them. We will not have too many readings because we want to keep a certain level of spontaneity for the floor."
Meghna concluded by saying that Chhapaak has been an emotional journey for her and Deepika. "When I met her for the first time for the narration, we both had teared up. Then we quickly composed ourselves and I went on to give her the entire narration. But now, like me, she is also in the execution mode. So, she has kept the emotions at a distance and is processing the story differently," she said.
Laxmi, now 29, had survived a horrific acid attack in New Delhi in 2005 as she was attacked by a man whose proposal she had rejected.
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