By Subhash K. Jha
Mumbai, May 24 (IANS) Actress Deepika Padukone says that her co-actor in Pradeep Sarkar’s “Lafange Parindey”, Neil Nitin Mukesh is so protective of her that he gets tense every time she has to perform a stunt sequence.

“It’s very sweet of him. But I insist on doing what I want to. Neil does get tense,” she said.

The actor has so impressed her that she cannot stop praising him.

“Neil is such a well brought-up guy, absolutely impeccable in his manners. Besides being a brilliant actor, he’s also a great technician. I see him turning director soon. My other co-star Imran Khan in ‘Break Ke Baad’ is great fun too. We shot in Delhi and bonded immediately,” she said.

Speaking of Imran, there was talk of Deepika deliberately working with Ranbir Kapoor’s immediate rival after their break up.

When asked about it, she flared up.

“No one tells me what to do and what not to do. My personal life has nothing to do with my professional one. Imran is a wonderful co-star. I like working with actors who are fun yet professional, like Akshay, Imran, Neil and Abhishek Bachchan.”

When asked about her linkup with liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s son, Deepika sighed, saying: “Can’t I be seen with the people I’m working with without being linked to them? Not too many people know this. But Siddharth Mallaya actually runs the whole IPL (Indian Premier League) show for his father. So it was natural for me to celebrate with him when our team won a match. Anyway, the IPL season is now over. So I guess that rumour will end.”

Deepika is very happy about her roles so far.

“Housefull was a new experience. I had to do comedy. Like Akshay Kumar, I chose to do a more subtle comedy in Housefull. For me being funny doesn’t mean screaming and rolling my eyes. Now I’ve three films that are about to be completed — Ashutosh Gowariker’s ‘Khelenge Hum Jee Jaan Se’, Pradeep Sarkar’s ‘Lafange Parindey’ and Danish Aslam’s ‘Break Ke Baad’. Let’s see which comes next.”