Deepika Padukone walked the crowded Mumbai streets as Chhapaak’s Malti

mangaloretoday/ HT

Mumbai, Jan 11, 2020: Actor Deepika Padukone conducted a social experiment with the team of her upcoming film Chhapaak to really understand how people react on seeing an acid attack survivor in their midst. In a new video shared by the actor, she is seen walking the streets of Mumbai, flea markets and grocery stores while hidden cameras follow her.

“Whenever Deepika steps out, people recognise her. Sometimes I want to hide,” she says in the beginning of the video and steps into her trailer to put on her prosthetics from the film. When she steps out, she is dressed like her character from the film, Malti and is joined by other acid attack survivors who also feature in the film.

First, she steps into a cell phone store where she is greeted by the shopkeeper. She asks woman to click a selfie with them and she happily obliges. A few men look at the girls but no one gets rude.

They then walk into a grocery store where some people flat out refuse to help the girls and give them disgusted looks. A few, however, respond to them with kindness and smiles. At a jewellery store, the girls meet a woman who laughs and talks with them but at the flea market, the response was a lot different. A woman hides her child from the girls and another screams rudely when they ask for help.

At the end of the video, Deepika says, “What I have learnt through the day is that somethings are right in front of your eyes but you don’t realise it. It’s important to change your perspective,” she says.

Chhapaak is inspired by the real life story of Laxmi Agarwal, who was attacked with acid at the age of 15. The film is directed by Meghna Gulzar and will release on January 10.