On his social media, Ali expressed, \u201cMy dearest and loveliest Deepika Padukone, you are my pal, my buddy, my safe option for humour. I think you will never misunderstand my attempts at fun because more than anyone else, you know how much I love you, admire you, understand you, and appreciate you. But I have been told you might misunderstand and be hurt, so I am telling you, please don\u2019t.”<\/p>\n
The filmmaker further added, \u201cTo be mean to you is janam mein to possible nahin hai. I never thought I would write such a disclaimer to you, but it’s been a while, and I didn’t want to take a chance. Wish you the best and love always.\u201d<\/p>\n
Take a look at his post:<\/p>\n
![\"PC:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779777524_d-1.webp\" "\\"PC:")
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For the unversed, the chatter began when a video from Imtiaz\u2019s recent interview with News18 started circulating online. While walking down memory lane about the casting of Homi Adajania\u2019s Cocktail, the director revealed that Deepika was initially given the script to read for the character of Meera (eventually played by Diana Penty<\/a>).<\/p>\n However, after a phone call with her, Imtiaz suggested she test for Veronica instead. Explaining his thought process, Imtiaz made a remark that raised quite a few eyebrows:<\/p>\n \u201cVeronica is so different from what Deepika’s image was at that point in time. But since I had been in the room and attended parties with her, I know how crazy and wild she can be, even though she was otherwise projecting a very ‘good girl’ image at that time. Now people have seen through the facade. So, I thought it would be quite a new thing for Deepika to do,\u201d he had said.<\/p>\n Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates!<\/p>\n