Deepika Padukone from Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar 2006 to Bollywood

It was inevitable that Deepika Padukone, 20, would find her way to mainstream Bollywood cinema.

The mesmerizing eyes and svelte figure, that landed her a month on the Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar for 2006, were one day sure to catapult her to stardom.

The inevitable happened and a Bollywood breakthrough has landed Padukone straight in the arms of none other than King Khan, opposite whom she has now been cast in Farah Khan's
Happy New Year (Formerly titled Om Shanti Om).

The film additionally stars Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Dutt, Zayed Khan and Raveena Tandon.

"Yes, I will be working with Shah Rukh Khan shortly — we will begin shooting by December,"confirms Deepika.

She's really looking forward to the film and says she's excited about working with her icon. "80 per cent of the films I've watched while growing up are his,"she says.

So does the fact that King Khan is in his 40s and she just 20-something bother her?

"I don't think age has anything to do with acting. I think Shah Rukh will always be perceived as the boy-next-door — he's immortalised the Rahul character."

Deepika loved him in Swades and thought he did a fab job in the film.

"And as far as he and I coming from various backgrounds is concerned, I'm sure the director, Farah, has visualised the two of us together before she decided to cast us together,"she says.

Deepika is also considering a change of look for the film. Is it to match the suave and stylish King Khan?

"It's not just that. I think it's important for every actor to keep changing his or her looks. It's an actor's responsibility to constantly keep re-inventing and staying versatile,"says Deepika.

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