"Yes I have a boyfriend and we are happy," she said during a visit to Dubai as the brand ambassador of a real estate company.

Asked about her love life, the 22-year-old actor who has earlier been linked to Indian cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, said as a public figure you had to learn to deal with rumours.

"There is always a lot of speculation but that is something you have to deal with. We are together and I refer to him as my boyfriend," she was quoted as saying in the Gulf News.

Padukone, who made a hugely successful Bollywood debut with director Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om opposite Shah Rukh Khan in 2007, is currently working on Nikhil Advani's Chandni Chowk to China, also starring Akshay Kumar.

She was earlier seen in a Kannada film, Aishwarya in 2006, after a successful stint as a ramp model.