Deepika wants to do a sports film

Sports and Deepika Padukone are inextricably linked, what with her father being a badminton champ.

And now Deepika has gotten together with her father Prakash Paudokne in a project to help needy sports people.

Says Deepika, "My father has just started an organization to help promising individual sports persons. I've decided to be associated with it. I want to contribute not just financially but also by being there for it physically. I'm dying to do a sports film. But no one has offered me any so far."

Deepika moves away from her Lucy Lieu act in Chandni Chowk To China to do a very 'today' film about a contemporary relationship in Imtiaz Ali's film with Saif Ali Khan.

And the extremely contemporary film often found Deepika drawing references from her own relationship.

"It's a very contemporary take on relationships, the way couples feel in this day age. It's a very unusual film. Very real. It will connect with contemporary couples. I sure did connect with it."

Deepika is thrilled to be compared with Lucy Lieu. "I come from a very athletic background. And I wanted to do an action scenes. To be doing somersaults and flips for all those guys who supervised the stunts for Uma Thurman in Kill Bill ... was a big treat."

She did injure her ankle, permanently she thought. "But it has healed miraculously. And I'm raring to do another action film."

Like Kareena, Deepika has decided to stay mum about her personal life. "The only time Ranbir and I have spoken is about each other is when we wanted to confess our love. Then they've been bringing us together, splitting us up ... I'm very secure and happy in our relationship."

Sidelining all speculation about Ranbir Kapoor's mother being disapproving of her, Deepika says, "I've only met her a couple of times and hardly interacted with Ranbir's parents. I've the highest regard for her. Ranbir and I will get to know each other's parents when the time is right. At the moment we're both focused on our careers."

About being called a female Akshay Kumar Deepika laughs, "That was picked up by a journalist who asked me if I wanted to be a female Akshay Kumar. If my words are twisted and played around with, what can I say? I'm just here to enjoy myself. Now I've another chance to be a female Akshay Kumar when we start Sajid Khan's Houseful."

It's choc-a-bloc routine for Deepika.But she says she has time for everything. "Time management is something I learnt very young. I make sure I work very hard. I also get time to relax. We're in a business where we need to get look good."

Then she adds, "But I'm glad people don't think of me as a decorative doll. I take my own decisions on what films to do. Ranbir and I don't discuss work."

A recent trip to Tirupathi with her family also gave the actress a big high, and not just spiritually. "It's nice to know that people recognize me even in the South. We were obviously there for a religious visit. People were extremely well-behaved. They did of course take photographs and ask for autographs.I'd have been disappointed if they didn't."