Movies on the blog: Alyson Stoner: Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone (pronouncedÂ [dÌªiËpÉªkaË pÉ™É–ÊŠkoËÉ³]; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian film actress and model. She has established a successful career in Bollywood films, and is cited in the media as one of the most popular Indian celebrities.

Padukone, the daughter of the badminton player Prakash Padukone, was born in Copenhagen and raised in Bangalore. As a teenager she played badminton in national level championships, but left her career in sport to become a fashion model. She soon received offers for film roles, and made her acting debut in 2006 as the titular character of the Kannada film Aishwarya. Padukone then played dual roles in her first Bollywood releaseâ€"the 2007 blockbuster Om Shanti Omâ€"and won a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

Padukone received praise for portraying the lead female roles in the 2009 romance Love Aaj Kal and the 2010 drama Lafangey Parindey, but her performances in the 2008 romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno and the 2010 comedy Housefull met with negative reviews. She followed it with roles in a series of commercially unsuccessful films that failed to propel her career forward. The 2012 box office hit Cocktail marked a significant turning point in her career, earning her critical acclaim and Best Actress nominations at several award ceremonies. In 2013, Padukone established herself as a leading actress of Hindi cinema by playing primary roles in the comedies Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Chennai Express (both of which rank among the highest-grossing Bollywood films of all time), and won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance in the tragic romance Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela.

Alongside her acting career, Padukone participates in stage shows, has written columns for an Indian newspaper, and is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products. Her off-screen life is the subject of fervent tabloid reporting in India.

Early life and modelling career

Deepika Padukone was born on 5 January 1986 in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Konkani-speaking parents. Her father, Prakash, is a former badminton player of international repute, and her mother, Ujjala, is a travel agent. Her younger sister, Anisha, is a golfer. Her paternal grandfather, Ramesh, was secretary of the Mysore Badminton Association for many years. 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.

Padukone has admitted to being 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." In 2004, she began a full-time career as a model under the tutelage of Prasad Bidapa.

Early in her career, Padukone gained recognition with a television commercial for the soap Liril, and modelled for various other brands and products. In 2005, she made her runway debut at the Lakme Fashion Week for designer Suneet Varma, and won the "Model of the Year" award at the Kingfisher Fashion Awards. Padukone's fame increased when she appeared in a highly popular print campaign for the 2006 Kingfisher Calendar; the designer Wendell Rodricks commented, "Since Aishwarya Rai, we haven't had a girl as beautiful and fresh." Rodricks had spotted her at a Ganjam jewellery class he was teaching and signed her up with the Matrix agency. At the age of 21, Padukone relocated to Mumbai and stayed at her aunt's home. That year, she gained wider recognition by featuring in the music video for Himesh Reshammiya's song "Naam Hai Tera."

Padukone soon began to receive offers for film roles. Believing herself to be too inexperienced as an actor, she instead enrolled for a course at Anupam Kher's film academy. Following much media speculation, the director Farah Khan, who had noticed her in Reshammiya's music video, made the decision to cast her for a role in Happy New Year.

Acting career

Film debut and breakthrough (2006â€"09)

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 titular role opposite the actor Upendra. The film proved a major 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."

By the end of 2006, Farah Khan's Happy New Year was shelved, and Khan had instead cast Padukone for the reincarnation 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 rolesâ€"Shantipriya, a leading actress of the 1970s, and later as Sandy, an aspiring actress. She said, "I've grown up watching [Shah Rukh] and always admired him so much. To get to work with himÂ ... is quite wonderful. It was also fantastic that Farah showed faith in my talent and cast me opposite him." In preparation for her role, Padukone watched several films of actresses Helen and Hema Malini to study their body language, which she felt "were more graceful" and "completely different from today's actors." However, her voice was dubbed by the voice artist Mona Ghosh Shetty. For one of the songs in the film, "Dhoom Taana,â€ Padukone drew upon Indian classical dance, and according to Dorling Kindersley, "mesmeriz[ed] audiences" by using hasta mudras (hand gestures). Om Shanti Om was a commercial success, and emerged as the highest grossing film of the year, with a global revenue of 1.49 billion (US$23Â million). Taran Adarsh of the entertainment portal Bollywood Hungama reviewed, "Deepika has all it takes to be a top starâ€"the personality, the looks and yes, she's supremely talented too. Standing in the same frame as [Shah Rukh] and getting it right is no small achievement. She comes as a whiff of fresh air!" At the annual Filmfare Awards ceremony, Padukone was awarded the Best Female Debut Award and received her first nomination in the Best Actress category.

Bollywood Hungama reported that the success of Om Shanti Om proved a breakthrough for Padukone. She followed this success with the role of Gayatri (one of star Ranbir Kapoor's love interests), a feisty student in Australia who moonlights as a cab driver in Yash Raj Films' romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008). The film was a financial success, but Namrata Joshi of Outlook wrote that Padukone's performance was disappointing: "She is mannequin-like and utterly lacks fire and zing."

Padukone's first release of 2009 came alongside Akshay Kumar in the Nikhil Advani-directed kung fu comedy Chandni Chowk To China, in which she portrayed the dual roles of Indian-Chinese twin sisters Sakhi and Suzy. Produced by Warner Bros., it had one of the widest international releases ever given to an Indian film. Padukone learned the Japanese martial art form of jujutsu, and performed her stunts without the use of a body double. Despite the hype, Chandni Chowk To China proved a major financial failure with worldwide earnings of 554.7 million (US$8.7Â million) on a budget of 800 million (US$13Â million). Film critics were generally disappointed with the picture and Padukone's performance; Justin Trout of Orlando Weekly noted that she "is so wasted in Chandni Chowk, my mind often wandered back to Om Shanti Om during her scenes, possibly as a defense mechanism."

That same year, Padukone featured in an item number (for a song called "Love Mera Hit Hit") in the drama Billu, following which she appeared alongside Saif Ali Khan in the romantic drama Love Aaj Kal from the writer-director Imtiaz Ali. The film documented the changing value of relationships among the youth, and had Padukone play the part of Meera Pandit, a head-strong career woman. With a worldwide gross of 1.2 billion (US$19Â million), Love Aaj Kal proved to be the third highest-grossing film of 2009. Aniruddha Guha of Daily News and Analysis said that Padukone "delivers the best of her four performances so far" and Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India mentioned her as "definitive and strong." At the 55th Filmfare Awards Padukone received a nomination for Best Actress.

Career struggles (2010â€"11)

Padukone had five film releases in 2010. Her first role was in Vijay Lalwani's psychological thriller Karthik Calling Karthik, where Padukone was cast as the supportive girlfriend of a depressed man (played by Farhan Akhtar) who goes through a series of changes after receiving mysterious phone calls every morning. Derek Elley of Variety found the film to be "thinly plotted" but added that "the uncomplicated ingenuousness of PadukoneÂ ... helps make the tall tale convincing." Commercially, the film performed poorly. Her most economically profitable film that year was Sajid Khan's 1.15 billion (US$18Â million)-grossing comedy film Housefull in which she featured alongside an ensemble cast including Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Lara Dutta, Arjun Rampal, Jiah Khan and Boman Irani. Raja Sen described the film as a "festival of bad acting" and attributed Padukone's poor performance to her "plasticky expressions."

Pradeep Sarkar's drama Lafangey Parindey (2010) saw Padukone star opposite Neil Nitin Mukesh in the role of Pinky Palkar, a blind girl determined to win a skating competition. In preparation for her role, she observed the interactions of blind people and rehearsed scenes while blindfolded. Writing for The Hindu, Sudhish Kamath was particularly impressed by Padukone and wrote that she "exercises considerable restraint" in playing her part. Later that year, Hindustan Times published that the film helped change people's perception of Padukone, with focus directed on her acting prowess rather than her appearance. Her next role was opposite Imran Khan in the Danish Aslam-directed romantic comedy Break Ke Baad. CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand found the film to be "reasonably engaging" and noted that it was "watchable largely for the performance of its leading lady." Both Lafangey Parindey and Break Ke Baad underperformed at the box office.

Padukone's final release of 2010 was Ashutosh Gowarikar's period film Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey opposite Abhishek Bachchan. Based on the book Do and Die by Manini Chatterjee, the film is a retelling of the 1930 Chittagong armoury raid. Bachchan featured as the revolutionary leader Surya Sen and Padukone played Kalpana Dutta, his confidante. Padukone said that she did not research for the role as there were "hardlyÂ ... any reference points as to what Kalpana looked like other than a few photos," and relied completely on Gowarikar's direction. A review published in The Telegraph was appreciative of Padukone's portrayal, and the film received a generally positive critical reception. Despite this, it proved a major commercial disappointment.

Padukone began 2011 with an item number in Rohan Sippy's Dum Maaro Dum. The song was a remixed version of the iconic song "Dum Maro Dum," from the 1971 film Hare Rama Hare Krishna, which featured Zeenat Aman. Padukone referred to it as "the wildest song any actress has done;" the song's "suggestive lyrics" and "raunchy moves" attracted controversy including a court case for indecency. Her next film was Prakash Jha's socio-political drama Aarakshan, co-starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpayee and Prateik Babbar, which dealt with the political issue of caste-based reservations in India. Trade journalists had high expectations for the film which ultimately flopped at the box office. Critical reaction was largely negative, though Pratim D. Gupta mentioned Padukone as the most "refreshing thing about [the] movie." Her final appearance that year was in Rohit Dhawan's comedy-drama Desi Boyz alongside Akshay Kumar, John Abraham and Chitrangada Singh, a role that failed to propel her career forward. The series of poorly received films led critics to perceive that Padukone had "[lost] her sparkle."

Cocktail and beyond (2012â€"present)

In an interview for The Indian Express, Padukone said that her starring role in the 2012 Homi Adajania-directed romantic comedy Cocktail marked a significant turning point in her career. Raja Sen of Rediff.com opined that she had successfully proved to be a "stunning girl who can also act." Set in London, Cocktail tells the story of a software engineer (played by Saif Ali Khan) and his relationship with two temperamentally different womenâ€"an impulsive party girl (Veronica, played by Padukone) and a submissive girl next door (Meera, played by Diana Penty). During the script narration, the producer Dinesh Vijan offered Padukone the choice of which woman to play; she decided on Veronica to expand her horizons as an actress. Portraying the role was a creative and physical challenge for her, and to achieve the physical requirements of her character she exercised extensively and followed a rigorous diet. Critics were divided in their opinion of the film, but particularly praised Padukone's performance; Devesh Sharma of Filmfare credited her as the "soul of the film" and wrote that she "excels in every scene, whether as a material girl who enjoys sex, drugs and rock and roll or as the jealousy ridden girl out to destroy herself." Cocktail earned Padukone Best Actress nominations at several award ceremonies, including Filmfare, Screen, and IIFA. The film proved a box office hit as well.

In 2013, Padukone established herself as a leading actress of contemporary Hindi cinema by featuring in four of the top-grossing productions of the year. She collaborated with Saif Ali Khan for the fourth time (alongside John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez, Ameesha Patel, and Anil Kapoor) in Abbas-Mustan's Race 2, an ensemble action thriller that served as a sequel to the 2008 film Race. The film received predominantly negative reviews from critics, but with a total collection of 1.62 billion (US$25Â million), it proved to be a commercial success. In a particularly scathing review, Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV wrote that both Padukone and Fernandez "strut around like wound-up automatons that are all decked-up but have nowhere to go."

Ayan Mukerji's romantic comedy Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani was Padukone's next film release. Co-starring alongside Ranbir Kapoor, Kalki Koechlin, and Aditya Roy Kapoor, she was cast as Naina Talwar, a "shy wallflower," which marked a departure from the glamorous characters that she had a reputation for portraying. Film critics praised Padukone's performance, though their response to the film was mixed. Raja Sen thought that the film "lacked a good story" but added that Padukone "acts within herself and eschews exaggeration, and the results are impressiveÂ ... This may be her most self-aware performance so far". The pairing of Padukone with her former boyfriend was highly anticipated, and the film proved a major success with a worldwide revenue of 3.02 billion (US$47Â million). Her next appearance was opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Rohit Shetty's action-comedy film Chennai Express. She played Meenalochini Azhagusundaram, a Tamil girl on the run from her father (a local don), which required that she adopt a Tamil accent. Critical opinion on her accent was mixed, but her performance received praise; film critic Aseem Chhabra concluded, "Padukone is delightful in the filmâ€"beautiful, smiling, and often a lot more playful and funny than Khan." Chennai Express was Padukone's second consecutive release to earn over 3 billion (US$47Â million) in worldwide ticket sales; both Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Chennai Express rank among the highest-grossing Bollywood films of all time.

Padukone next played opposite Ranveer Singh in Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, an adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy of Romeo and Juliet from director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Her role was Leela, a Gujarati girl based on the character of Juliet. Initially titled Ram-Leela, the film's title was changed after a court case was registered against Bhansali, Padukone, and Singh for "offending the religious sentiments" of the Hindu community by showcasing sex and violence under a title that referred to the life of Lord Rama. Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela released among protests across several states in India, but was generally well received by critics. Meena Iyer of The Times of India mentioned Padukone as "breathtaking", and writing for Deccan Chronicle, Khalid Mohamed concluded that "itâ€™s Deepika Padukone whom the film belongs to. Looking drop dead gorgeous and going at her part with a wallop, sheâ€™s the prime asset of Ram-Leela." The film earned 2.02 billion (US$32Â million) worldwide, making it Padukone's fourth consecutive box office hit of the year. Her performances in Chennai Express and Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela won her several awards, including the Screen Award for Best Actress for both films and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the latter.

In 2014, Padukone featured opposite Rajinikanth in the Tamil film Kochadaiiyaan, a period drama that was shot using motion capture technology. In Homi Adajania's widely praised satire Finding Fanny, Padukone played a young widow who takes a road trip with her dysfunctional friends (played by Arjun Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia and Pankaj Kapur) in search of a woman named Fanny. The film was screened at the 19th Busan International Film Festival; critic Anuj Kumar of The Hindu wrote that Padukone successfully "takes off the fineries of Bollywood and you can sense the freedom from baggage in her performance". Farah Khan's renewal of Happy New Year saw Padukone work with Shah Rukh Khan for the third time. She played a bar dancer who trains a group of underachievers for a dance competition. Rajeev Masand wrote that she "strikes the right balance between broad humor and heartfelt emotion, giving us another winning character", though Sanjukta Sharma of Mint was more critical of her performance, and found her role to be of minimal importance that required her only to be "a pretty thing to be laughed at and pitied". The film earned over 1.75 billion (US$27Â million) in India, emerging a major financial success.

Upcoming projects

As of December 2014, Padukone has several upcoming projects. She has completed work on Shoojit Sircar's Piku, a comedy-drama about a father-daughter relationship, in which she plays the eponymous protagonist alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Irrfan Khan and Jisshu Sengupta. She is simultaneously filming Imtiaz Ali's Tamasha, a romantic drama opposite Ranbir Kapoor, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's historical romance Bajirao Mastani, in which she plays Mastani opposite Ranveer Singh's Baji Rao I and Priyanka Chopra's Kashibai. She has also committed to star in two films under Homi Adajania's directionâ€"a Hindi adaptation of John Green's novel The Fault in Our Stars and My Choice, a short film on women's empowerment.

Personal life and off-screen work

Padukone shares a close bond with her family, and visits them regularly in her hometown of Bangalore. She lives by herself in Prabhadevi, a neighbourhood in Mumbai, and admits to missing the presence of her family there. She says, "I miss them, but luckily I have a life of my own, which keeps me from getting homesick. I wouldnâ€™t want them to uproot their lives from Bengaluru just to be with me." A practicing Hindu, Padukone considers religion to be an important aspect of her life and makes frequent visits to temples and other religious shrines. She has also been outspoken on issues such as feminism and has said, "New feminism isn't about being aggressive; it's about reaching the top yet being soft. It's about being you â€" feminine, strong and full of will power.â€ In a 2015 interview, Padukone spoke about her personal experience of overcoming depression, and she has since launched an initiative to create awareness on mental health in India.

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 "angry" and "betrayed" for a long time, but insisted that they remained on good terms. In a 2010 interview, Padukone made a comment that the media speculated was a reference to her break-up with Kapoor:

The first time he cheated on me, I thought there was something wrong with me or the relationship, but when someone makes a habit of it, you know the problem lies with him. Yet I was foolish enough to give him a second chance because he begged and pleaded, despite the fact that everyone around me said he was still straying. I guess I really wanted to believe in him. Then I actually caught him red-handed. It took me a while to get out. But having done that, nothing can make me go back. That ship has sailed.

Kapoor initially denied the allegations, but according to The Times of India, he later admitted to the infidelity. In 2013, following the production of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Padukone told Filmfare that she now "shares a great comfort level" with him.

In 2011, a set of pictures showing Padukone kissing the cricket manager Siddharth Mallya at an Indian Premier League match were made available on the web. This led to wide speculation in the media about the nature of their relationship, which Padukone declined to talk about publicly. The following year there were reports about a break-up, to which she said: "Just because we are not seen together, it doesn't mean that we are not friends anymore." She has since denied reports of other link-ups, stating that she is "not in a frame of mind to be in a relationship."

In addition to acting, Padukone has written opinion columns and has been involved with women's health and fitness magazines. She has also supported charitable organisations, and has performed for stage shows. In 2009, she was hired by Hindustan Times to write weekly columns for their lifestyle section; through these columns she interacted with her fans and passed details of her personal and professional life. That year, she participated in the World 10K Bangalore marathon, which raised 13.1 million (US$210,000) in support of 81Â NGOs. In 2010, Padukone adopted the Maharashtrian village of Ambegaon as part of NDTV's Greenathon Campaign, to provide the village with a regular supply of electricity. She visited Indian jawans (troops) in Jammu, for an Independence Day special episode of NDTV's reality show Jai Jawaan. Padukone also took part in the opening ceremony of the third season of the Indian Premier League at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Three years later, she performed alongside Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, and Pitbull for the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League. In early 2013, Padukone performed at the Zee Cine Awards and later that year danced to a couple of her songs in Macau for the 14th IIFA Awards. In 2014, she participated in a concert tour across North America, entitled "SLAM! The Tour", in which she performed alongside her co-stars from Happy New Year. Padukone has also been involved with the Olympic Gold Quest team, established by her father and Geet Sethi to support Indian athletes at the Olympic Games, along with sports personalities such as Leander Paes and Viswanathan Anand and several other actors. In 2013, she launched her own line of clothing for women, in association with the retail chain Van Heusen.

In the media

The journalist Vir Sanghvi, in 2013, described Padukone as "strong, someone who makes up her own mind, [and] has motivation within herself." She is particularly known in the media as a professional, disciplined performer, whose "work takes precedence over everything else." A reviewer for Rediff.com described her personality as "simple," "grounded," and "accessible," and wrote, "She takes criticism in her stride, acknowledges her limitations and strives to work hard at getting better. She handles praise with equal composure." Ayan Mukerji (the director of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani) considers her to be "a woman who will flirt with you but you will love to take her home to meet your mom as well." Padukone has maintained a Twitter account since 2009, and launched an official Facebook page in 2013 where she has the most number of likes of any Bollywood celebrity.

One of the highest-paid actresses in Bollywood, Padukone is considered among the most popular and high-profile celebrities in India. Analysing her career, Reuters published that after making a successful debut with Om Shanti Om, she featured in a series of films for which critics labelled her as "wooden" and "mocked her accent." The Indian Express added, "Not too long ago after a few unwise script calls and the public blow up of her high profile relationship with Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika was written off. Credit to her much touted professionalism, dedication, discipline and perseverance that she bounced back." Following the major success of Cocktail, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, and Chennai Express, several media publications began crediting her as the most successful contemporary actress in India. In 2013, she was ranked eleventh on the Indian edition of the Forbesâ€Š'â€‹ "Celebrity 100," a list based on the income and popularity of India's celebrities. The following year she was ranked eighth, with an estimated annual earning of 672 million (US$11Â million).

Padukone is considered a sex symbol and style icon in India â€" the media cites her figure, height 1.74Â m (5Â ft 8Â ¹â„₂Â in), smile, and eyes as her distinctive physical features. The actress ranks high on various listings of the most attractive Indian celebrities. In 2008, she topped Indian Maximâ€Š'â€‹s "Hot 100" list, and in 2012, she was named "India's Most Beautiful Woman" by the Indian edition of People magazine. Padukone was ranked first on The Times of Indiaâ€Š'â€‹s listing of the "Most Desirable Woman" in 2012 and 2013, after being ranked third and fourth, respectively, for the preceding two years. In 2010 and 2014, she was named the "World's Sexiest Woman" by the Indian edition of FHM. She has additionally featured in the UK magazine Eastern Eyeâ€Š'â€‹s "World's Sexiest Asian Women" list from 2009 to 2013, ranking among the top ten each year. In 2013, Filmfare declared her as the winner of the "Most Fashionable Star" poll, and credited her as one of the "few actresses who experiments with colours, cuts and silhouettes." In the fitness book The Four-Week Countdown Diet, the actress was cited by Namita Jain as "the ultimate role model for a healthy, fit and active lifestyle."

Padukone is an active celebrity endorser for several brands and products, including Tissot, Sony Cyber-shot, Nescafe, Vogue eyewear, Maybelline and Pepsi, among others. In 2012, it was reported that Padukone had signed on for an endorsement deal with Garnier worth 60 million (US$940,000), a record breaking remuneration for an Indian actress.