Deepika Padukone says Gehraiyaan role was ‘hard to digest’ for her family: ‘They have seen it so up close with me’

Actor Deepika Padukone has said that her family is always proud of the work she does but don’t shy away from giving her an honest review either. In a new interview, Deepika also revealed how her role in Gehraiyaan was a ‘bit difficult for the family to digest.

Deepika plays a young Mumbaikar Alisha in Shakun Batra’s Gehraiyaan, who cheats on her boyfriend to have an affair with her cousin’s fiance. Alisha also suffers from anxiety issues in the film and has a traumatic relationship with her past.

Speaking to NDTV about the film and her family’s reaction, Deepika said, “I think at a personal level, it was a bit difficult for them to digest what my character goes through. They have seen it so up, close, and personal with me that I think at a personal level it was difficult for them to go through that.” Deepika has been vocal about her personal fight against depression in the past. In 2015, she even started a foundation–Live Love Laugh–to work in this arena.

Deepika added, “Having said that, I think what they truly appreciated was my performance and also the way mental illness and mental health were depicted in the film, these were the two big takeaways.”

Also read: Deepika Padukone says she doesn’t agree with her Gehraiyaan character’s choices

She spoke about the same in an interview with Pinkvilla as well. “To be able to do that onscreen, it had to come from a very very deep place. So, yes, it’s not to say I haven’t experienced that before. I think to this extent where I had to really dig deep and visit places that aren’t really the most pleasant from my own life as well as dealing with mental health issues. So, I think all of that put together it just came from a very very deep place,” she said.

Gehraiyaan released on Amazon Prime Video on February 11. It also stars Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Dhairya Karwa with Naseeruddin Shah and Rajat Kapur.