Deepika Padukone, the reigning actress of Bollywood, used to be the little girl with a pair of big, bright and inquisitive eyes. She is the daughter of the former internationally acclaimed famous badminton player, Prakash Padukone. Born on January 5, 1986 in Copenhagen, Denmark, she has been brought up in Bengaluru, India and then finally shifted her base to Mumbai after starting out a career in modelling since her college days.
Family Background Of The Actress
Her father, Prakash Padukone, is a former professional badminton player and her mother, Ujjala, is a travel agent. Deepika’s younger sister, Anisha, is a golfer. Her paternal grandfather, Ramesh, was a secretary of the Mysore Badminton Association.
The family relocated to Bangalore, India when Padukone was a year old. She was educated at Bangalore’s Sophia High School and completed her pre-university education at Mount Carmel College. She subsequently enrolled at the Indira Gandhi National Open University for a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology but later quit it due to scheduling conflicts with her modelling career.
Deepika’s Love For Badminton And Shifting Interests
Although since childhood, badminton was the centre of her dreams and passion, she felt a strong urge to pursue a completely different career in the world of glitz and glamour, which, she later said, was well accepted by her father.
Padukone has said that she was socially awkward as a child and did not have many friends. The focus of her life was badminton, which she played competitively from a young age. Describing her daily routine in a 2012 interview, Padukone said, “I would wake up at five in the morning, go for physical training, go to school, again go for playing badminton, finish my homework, and go to sleep.
“Padukone continued to pursue a career in badminton throughout her school years and played the sport in national level championships. She also played baseball in a few state level tournaments. While concentrating on her education and sporting career, Padukone also worked as a child model, first appearing in a couple of advertising campaigns at the age of eight. In the tenth grade, she changed focus and decided to become a fashion model. She later explained, “I realised that I was playing the game only because it ran in the family. So, I asked my father if I could give up the game and he wasn’t upset at all.
Getting Into Movies
Sandalwood Break– Manmadhudu Remake
Padukone announced in 2006 that she would make her film debut with Aishwarya, a Kannada film directed by Indrajit Lankesh. The romantic comedy was a remake of the Telugu film Manmadhudu, and she was cast in the title role opposite the actor Upendra. The film proved to be a commercial success. RG Vijayasarathy of Rediff.com was appreciative of Padukone’s screen presence but added that “she needs to work on her emotional scenes.”
Bollywood Break – Om Shanti Om
By the end of 2006, Farah Khan’s Happy New Year was shelved, and Khan had instead cast Padukone for the melodrama Om Shanti Om (2007). Set against the backdrop of the Hindi film industry, the film tells the story of a struggling actor in the 1970s who dies soon after witnessing the murder of the woman he loved and is reincarnated to avenge her death. Shah Rukh Khan starred as the protagonist, and Padukone featured in dual roles of a leading actress of the 1970s, and later, an aspiring actress. In preparation for her role, Padukone watched several films of actresses Helen and Hema Malini to study their body language. The voice was dubbed by the voice artist Mona Ghosh Shetty.
Hollywood Break- XXX: Return of Xander Cage
The action film XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017), in which Padukone played the lead female role of Serena Unger, opposite Vin Diesel, marked her first project in Hollywood. The critical reception of the film was mixed.
The film earned over US$345 million worldwide, a majority of which came from the Chinese box office. Padukone received three nominations at the Teen Choice Awards and followed it with an item number in the romantic drama Raabta.
Padukone’s next production venture will be 83, a sports film about India’s victory at the 1983 Cricket World Cup, starring Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev, in which she will also take on the role of Dev’s wife, Romi. She has committed to star alongside Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ananya Panday in Shakun Batra’s as-yet-untitled romantic drama and to portray Draupadi in a retelling of the Mahabharata from her character’s perspective, which she will also be producing. Padukone will also produce and star in a remake of the American comedy film The Intern and will team with Prabhas in an as-yet-untitled science fiction film.
Deepika’s Relationship Story
While filming Bachna Ae Haseeno in 2008, Padukone began a romantic relationship with co-star Ranbir Kapoor. She spoke openly about the relationship and sported a tattoo of his initials on the nape of her neck.[ She has said that the relationship had a profound effect on her, transforming her into a more confident and social person.
The Indian media speculated on an engagement, and reported that this had occurred in November 2008, although Padukone had stated that she had no plans to marry within the next five years. The couple broke up a year later; she professed in an interview to feeling betrayed for a long time. In a 2010 interview, Padukone accused him of infidelity, and Kapoor later admitted to it. They reconciled their friendship while working on Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.
Padukone subsequently became reticent to discuss her personal life, but in 2017, she fondly spoke of her relationship with her frequent co-star Ranveer Singh, whom she began dating in 2012. In November 2018, the couple married in traditional Konkani and Sindhi ceremonies at Lake Como, Italy.
Contributions To Society
Deepika now feels that she has finally understood what Bollywood has to offer and realizes the impact cinema has on society.
Besides her flourishing acting career, Deepika Padukone also has always been confident in voicing her support for different social causes. As a beautiful and independent girl, for Deepika new age feminism is “not about being aggressive; it’s about reaching the top yet being soft. It’s about being you — feminine, strong and full of willpower.” Her humanitarian works also include adopting a Maharashtrian village to provide it with proper electricity supply, participating in World 10K Marathon as a way of helping the 81 NGOs to raise $13.1 million among other such initiatives.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.