Emotional Deepika Padukone consoles a sobbing Laxmi Agarwal at Chhapaak song launch. Watch video

Deepika Padukone consoled acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal who broke down as Shankar Mahadevan sang the title track of Chhapaak at the song launch in Mumbai on Friday. The actor also got emotional during the event and could not hold back the tears. Pictures and videos of the same were shared on Instagram by photographer Manav Manglani.

Chhapaak is inspired by the life of Laxmi and has Deepika playing an acid attack survivor named Malti. At an earlier event, the actor said that it was not a biopic but “the story of her journey, struggle, triumph and the human spirit”.

In 2005, at the age of 16, Laxmi was attacked with acid by a spurned suitor. However, she rose above her circumstances and became a high-profile crusader against acid attacks. She was also one of the winners of the US State Department’s International Women of Courage Award in 2014.

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Earlier, in an interview with Rajeev Masand, Deepika admitted that she spiralled into depression once more, during the making of Chhapaak. “I needed to have my counsellor on the sets of the movie with me. It came out of my nowhere and I was also caught off-guard,” she said.

Deepika initially dismissed it as stress or tiredness, until it “got really bad”. She said, “I started feeling it coming on and I thought maybe I am just tired or it is the long hours. But then it got really bad and I started feeling claustrophobic. It was very tough for me emotionally. To think about those days and put myself emotionally through that…”

Even at the trailer launch of Chhapaak, Deepika got teary-eyed. The actor was so moved by Laxmi’s story and the script that she also decided to turn producer for the film.

Deepika told IANS, “Meghna came to me with the script and I was instantly drawn to Meghna’s honesty, to Laxmi’s story and her journey. I felt like it was very, very powerful and I felt like as an actor, I definitely wanted to be a part of the film. Even as a person, I felt like there’s a really strong narrative in Laxmi’s life, and I wanted the world to see that.” Chhapaak is scheduled to hit the theatres on January 10, 2020.

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