All models needn't become actors: Deepika

Kingfisher Calendar Model hunt judge Deepika Padukone insists that she didn’t plan on being an actor and she will be lenient on the models.

Four years ago, Deepika Padukone was spotted at random and asked if she was interested in featuring in the Kingfisher Calendar. There was no contest and no competition. Today, she is one of the three judges who will pick the face that will feature in the compilation.

HT Image

Judgement call
“I was not judged,” says Padukone, who finds it extremely hard to be a strict decision maker. But does that mean she will go easy on the girls? “I am sure these girls are nervous. It’s only natural when you are pitted against so many other girls and you are supposedly the best in the world. There are insecurities and there is a lot of competition, and I will be lenient on the models,” she says.

Deepika Padukone

A model-turned-actor herself, Padukone never had ‘films’ on her list of priorities when she started out. And neither does she intend on finding Bollywood faces from the ones in the competition. "I am looking for someone with a great face, body and personality. I am not looking for someone who has the potential to become an actor. This is not a hunt for that. If it happens to the contestants, then good for them," says Padukone, who is on the panel with Siddharth Mallya, Milind Soman and Atul Kasbekar.