Deepika Padukone is on a high after the release of Cocktail, which got her critical acclaim, box office success and audience appreciation. Now, the actress will be seen as Aleena in Abbas-Mustan’s Race 2.

The 27-year-old sultry actress plays a beautiful, strong and passionate girl in this sequel to Race. She is a ruthless mind dwelling in a brilliant beautiful body.

In a candid and very quick chat with Bollywood Reporter Sunny Malik, the Race 2 star talks about the film and much more!

How was your experience shooting Race 2 in Turkey? I saw some photos of you shopping there during the filming.
That is the fun part about shooting there. It’s a great place for holidays. We spent about a month there and whenever we had a day off, we would go shopping. The city offers some amazing food. It was a good experience.

Saif told me you seemed a bit shell-shocked at times with Abbas-Mustan’s direction e.g. ‘Thoda Aur Sexy Karo’ (Do it sexier). What was going on in your head when you were told something like this?
I don’t think there was ever a point when they precisely told me ‘Thodha Aur Sexy Karo’ but there is definitely a type of acting that was expected from all the actors. It took me a couple of days to figure out what exactly they wanted because I have not done such a film before. Because of the fact that Saif has worked with them, he knew what they expected. He helped me understand that.

Was it difficult at times to do a scene because there are so many twists in the film?
You know, every time we were shooting a scene, we were almost given a narration of the entire script again. The baggage that we are carrying in every single take changes in every scene because the equations between the characters change. This is also true to the Race style as the first film was like that. As the equations keep changing, the performance has to change accordingly too. Every time we were shooting a scene, we would sit down with Shiraz (storywriter) and he would tell us this has happened before the scene and this will happen after this scene, then we would play act the scene accordingly.

Are you disappointed that you don’t have songs in the film which you could perform on stage? Katrina Kaif was given great songs to perform on like ‘Zara Zara Touch Me’ and ‘Khwab Dekhe’.
I think, for some films the music catches on with the audience after the release of the film. I think that Race 2 is one of those films. Also, I disagree with you because the music has become quite popular. All four songs in fact, ‘Party On My Mind’, ‘Be Intehaan’, ‘Lat Lag Gayee’ and ‘Allah Duhai’ are great songs. I also feel that when the film releases tomorrow, the music will catch on with audiences post that.

The film has already released in the UAE. Have you been getting feedback?
I believe that it has opened very big. But it is not something I followed up because I have been giving interviews all day. I don’t know what the update is.

You smashed it with your performance at a recent awards ceremony.
Thank you. I did a live performance after a long time and I think Shiamak choreographed it really well.

The first look of Ram Leela was released today. How are you feeling about the film?
I am very excited about the film. We have had very positive response to the poster. I am excited to see how the film shapes up and I am excited for it to release later this year. It is a very passionate and intense love story. It is a Gujrati take on Romeo and Juliet.

What are your expectations from audiences for Race 2?
I hope the film does really well. The film is true to the brand Race. There are a lot of twists and turns and everyone is plotting and betraying the other to get what they want. It is a very entertaining film.

Race 2, a Tips Film, releases on 25th January 2013 nationwide in UK  cinemas through UTV Motion Pictures.