Mumbai: Actress Deepika Padukone says that her Bajirao Mastani co-star Priyanka Chopra became her first friend in Bollywood — even before she had entered the film industry.

‘Priyanka is the first film person I ever met, when I had not even joined the industry. She was already a star even back then. She was the first friend that I made when I came in,’ Deepika said here at the trailer launch of Bajirao Mastani, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

‘We were so comfortable while shooting that it troubled a few people because it went against what a lot of people thought it would be. People expected there to be a lot of tension. But it was completely different,’ she added.

Deepika and Priyanka’s chemistry is visible in the song Pinga, which has a strong Maharashtrian flavour to it.

There have been direct comparisons to the iconic ‘Dola re’ song from the film Devdas, also directed by Bhansali. The track featured Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit.

But both Deepika and Priyanka dismissed the comparisons, saying Pinga is a song in which their characters decide to forget their differences and celebrate womanhood and the love they have for their man, Bajirao (Ranveer Singh).

There was also no conflict between the two actresses regarding who looked or danced better.

‘In fact, Sanjay sir would keep joking with us that ‘Why can’t you guys just fight?’. It was great fun... We’ve watched each other’s back when we were shooting this song. If there were steps that I found difficult, she would encourage me, and vice versa,’ Deepika said.

‘I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to do that,’ she added.