Deepika Padukone

I'm a strong believer in the fact that women are born to multi-task. God has made us like that.

I am always surrounded by very, very charming men, very intelligent men with a great sense of humour who always keep me entertained and pampered.

While I believe that when you are in the glamour industry, you have to look your best, I also believe being skinny is not 'hot and happening.'

I am methodical to the point of being obsessive-compulsive. And I have always been good at multi-tasking.

My parents never raised their hand or fired me. Their way of disciplining me was to tell me what is right or wrong.

It's good to be slightly ambitious, but I believe one shouldn't be too calculative. It's good to be on the edge, but I have never followed my mind. I have always followed my heart. And it has yielded the right results.

Preparation is definitely important, but it depends on the kinds of roles I do. Like, I completely identify with my character in 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.' I had to be myself and I didn't have to actually prepare for it.

My parents have been very supportive, in fact, it was my mother who identified that what I was going through was actually depression. My family and friends never let me feel as if something was wrong with me. They made me feel that what I was going through was okay. They supported my decision to take medication for depression.

People talk about physical fitness, but mental health is equally important. I see people suffering, and their families feel a sense of shame about it, which doesn't help. One needs support and understanding. I am now working on an initiative to create awareness about anxiety and depression and help people.

I have fought my own battle with depression, and it was important for me to bring a little awareness about it for others.

You can't create chemistry. In fact, the chemistry between two actors is for people to see, sense, and judge. The only thing we can do as actors is to come on board individually because we feel the same kind of passion for a script and for a director to cast us because he feels that, as actors, we'll do justice to that part.

Relationships or not, I believe that people don't need to know about my life beyond a certain point.