I am not a star, says Deepika Padukone

Mumbai: She may have made her Bollywood debut with superstar Shah Rukh Khan and worked with biggies like Amitabh Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan but actress Deepika Padukone feels that she is still not a star.

"I don`t think I am a star, I consider myself like any other girl who is of my age. Others may be working in office and doing different jobs. Similarly I don`t think I am doing something different.. I am also working. For me it is like I am doing something that I love and enjoy just like others do. I don`t see anything different," Deepika said in an interview here. From her debut film `Om Shanti Om` in 2007 to her upcoming release `Race 2`, Deepika`s journey has been eventful having worked with the likes of Prakash Jha and Imtiaz Ali. "It has been learning experience. Every film teaches you something, every experience on every film set with every co-star teaches you something. You learn something new. I think the challenge is to keep working harder and doing better. I am enjoying my work," she said. "I feel today I have become a lot more comfortable. I think hard work and always trying to better myself is something that is an on-going process," she added. The 27-year-old feels one can achieve anything purely on basis of hard work. "I don`t think you need any kind of backing here in the industry. I think what you achieve in your life is the result of your own talent and hard work. I think I have been lucky and fortunate enough to work with good people starting with SRK and Farah Khan who gave me an amazing launch," she said. Though the actress-filmmaker may not be appearing in movies regularly, she definitely does catch up with latest releases, going by word of mouth. "I do watch movies I go with word of mouth, I ask people how the film is. I always make it a point to see films when somebody credible recommends it. It may not necessarily be an arty film it can be out-an-out entertaining film," Naval said. After recently released `Inkaar`, she will be next seen in debutant director Avinash Kumar Singh`s `Listen Amaya` that hits screen on February 1. For this film, she has teamed up with Farooq again after many years. The film is about the relationship between a middle aged widow essayed by Deepti and her daughter played by Swara Bhaskar (of `Tanu Weds Manu` fame) and what happens when the mother falls in love with a 60-year-old retired photographer played by Farooq. PTI