Actress Deepika Padukone found herself in a spot today when director Karan Johar asked her opinion about Katrina Kaif but she handled the situation deftly by praising the 'Dhoom 3' star.
The 28-year-old actress was asked to name a performance by a female star that had impressed her in recent times and she named Cate Blanchett from Woody Allen's 'Blue Jasmine'.
Johar joked that it is always either Sridevi or Blanchett for Deepika and then quipped, "You loved Katrina in 'Dhoom 3'!"
After a moment's hesitation, Deepika praised Kaif.
"She was fantastic (in 'Dhoom 3'). She is one of the most hardworking people I have ever known," the 'Ram Leela' actress said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here.
Deepika said she is competitive in a healthy manner and does not let other's work affect her negatively.
"For me definition of competition is not being negative, it does not mean to pull somebody down. I am competitive but in a healthy manner. I just compete with myself and my previous films. Insecurity can be used to improve yourself, it can also be very productive. I think watching somebody else's film can inspire you to do great work," she said.
Deepika said one of her biggest learning recently has been that films influence the society.
"I was at Aamir's show, where he showed us a clip of how films today influence people and society. While I believe films are not entirely to be blamed, I have realised they do a play a very, very important part in shaping our society or the influence we have on children, the youth.
"I think in whatever way I can, I have been and probably be more careful in the kind of roles that I choose to be a part of and hopefully leave behind a body of work with meaningful roles and a lot of meaningful films and that in some way will help reshape cinema.
