Garba time for Deepika Padukone, Richa Chadda

Mumbai: Deepika Padukone is busy as a bee these days. From spending time with co-star Ranveer Singh to getting comfortable with the actor before shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali, to rehearsing her Garba steps vigorously for the five to six garba song-and-dances that she would have to perform in ‘Ram Leela’ -- her schedule is quite packed.

For the last one week, she has been trying to master the Gujarati dance form, Garba, and it isn`t as easy as it sounds. The perfectionist that he is, Bhansali has brought over traditional Garba dancers from Gujarat to teach the Garba in the traditional way to Deepika and Richa Chadda. Rehearsals are on every evening at Juhu here. "Garba is a frenetic, almost violent form of dancing. Bhansali didn`t want the filmy Garba. He wanted the real thing. So he got a couple of traditional Garba dancers from Gujarat to Mumbai to teach Deepika and Richa the real Garba," said a source. The only Indian style of dancing that Deepika knows is Kathak, which she learnt during ‘Om Shanti Om’. Gujarati folk is totally alien to her, but she is said to be picking it fast. It is Richa, with her sore knee, who`s finding the going a bit tough. "Deepika is very athletic and very swift on her feet. So is Richa. But Richa suffered a knee injury while doing an action scene for a film called `Tamanchey` and had to undergo knee surgery. So the aggressive Garba steps are not being kind to her knees," the source added. Richa has now gone into intense physio-therapy to get her steps right. Deepika and Richa play two close friends Leela and Rasila in ‘Ram Leela’, and they have been spending quite a lot of time in each other`s company. IANS