Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, who have reunited onscreen after a gap of six years for "Chennai Express", refuted reports that they spoofed Tamil culture in the film
The 27-year-old leggy beauty, who plays the role of a south Indian lass in "Chennai Express", said she would never spoof her own culture. "People just jump to conclusions. I am from the south; Rohit Shetty is from the south too. Why would we spoof our culture? We, ourselves, would take offence to that," Deepika was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying.
Meanwhile, Shah Rukh also stressed that he too has a very strong south connection. "Meri mummy Hyderabadi thi; then she shifted to Karnataka. And, my father was from Peshawar so he would speak in Pashto, Kashmiri, Urdu. Jab jhagda hota tha aur I am sure jab pyaar bhi hota hoga, it used to happen in their respective mother tongues. When lovers don't understand each other's language, I think that's very sexy!" Shah Rukh said.
Shah Rukh went on to share how uncomfortable he was to wear a lungi. "I'm a simple jeans and pants kind of guy. Wearing the lungi made me feel insecure. But Deepika helped me wear it in the end," he said.
Deepika spoke about how she helped her co-star wear a lungi ."A couple of days before we were in Chennai, he suddenly said he wanted to wear a lungi so I draped a sari into a lungi for him," Deepika said.
"Chennai Express" is an action comedy co-produced by Shah Rukh's wife Gauri Khan and Sidharath Roy Kapoor. The film has an exclusive promotional track composed by rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh titled "Lungi Dance". The song, a tribute to southern superstar Rajinikanth, has already become a sensation.
"Chennai Express" is set to hit screens on 9 August.