Deepika Padukone Biography

About

Deepika Padukone is one of the most highly-paid actresses in the world and also the most popular and attractive personality in the nation. She has acted is some of the best movies of Bollywood and also bagged several awards. Besides acting, she is the founder of The Live Love Laugh Foundation and even designed her own line of clothing.

Personal Life

She was born on 5 January 1986, in Denmark, to a former badminton player of international repute Prakash Padukone and Ujjala. She has a younger sister, who is a golfer. She was a year old when the family relocated to Bengaluru (Bangalore). She did her schooling from Sophia High School, Bangalore, and went to Mount Carmel College.

Deepika had a choice of becoming a badminton player like her father Prakash Padukone, a former Indian champion. She chose to become a model for the Kingfisher Calendar, famous for its swimsuit models. Later she signed several films and is now counted among one of the most popular actresses in Bollywood.

Career

She made her acting debut with a Kannada film Aishwarya in 2006. The next year she was launched by Shahrukh Khan in his home production, the Farah Khan directed Om Shanti Om. Deepika catapulted to instant stardom with the success of the film, one of the biggest grosser of that year. Cast opposite Shahrukh Khan himself, she played a double role in the film and got nominated for both the Filmfare Best Actress award and the best Female debut of the year. She bagged the latter.
In her next release in 2008, a multi starrer Yashraj production, Bachna Ae Haseeno, she was cast opposite Ranbir Kapoor, with Bipasha Basu and Manisha Lamba the other leads. The film was a semi hit. Her much hyped next film Chandani Chowk to China opposite Akshay Kumar was a flop. Deepika, in a double role for the second time in her career, didn’t look plausible as an Indo-Chinese girl.

However, in 2009 Deepika hit bull’s eye with the romantic Love Aaj Kal opposite Saif Ali khan. Her role of a young career woman caught in the confused moral mores of the time got her a second Filmfare nomination. The same year, her oomphy dance number with Shah Rukh in Billu, ensured that she remained in the limelight.

Her first film of 2010, the thriller Karthik calling Karthik co-starring Farhan Akhtar, did not do well commercially. Her next film, Sajid Khan’s Housefull, was a surprise hit. Deepika, once again cast opposite Akshay Kumar, looked drop-dead gorgeous and finally her critics acknowledged her acting abilities. She was appreciated for her acting in films such as Lafangey Parinday, opposite Neil Nitin Mukesh and Break ke Baad opposite Imran Khan. Both the films were moderately successful. Her 2010 release Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Khele Hum Jee Jaan Se, a period drama, was a commercial disaster though Deepika pairing with Abhishek Bachchan was much appreciated.

In 2011, her item number Dum maro Dum from the movie of the same name got her some flak for her suggestive dance moves, but her film Aarakshan, co-starring Amitabh Bachchan and Saif Ali khan, got her praise for her restrained acting. In 2012, she co-starred with Akshay Kumar and John Abraham in Desi Boyz.

Her turning point came with the film Concktail, directed by Homi Adajania. Some of the films in which she acted brilliantly are Race 2, Yeh Jawaani Hain Deewani, Chennai Express, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, Piku, Bajirao Mastani, and many.

Her first project in Hollywood is xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, where in she is playing the female lead opposite Vin Diesel.

Awards

Padukone has received Best Female Debut for Om Shanti Om (2007), and two Best Actress awards for Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013) and Piku (2015). Besides, she has won many other awards like Chevrolet Heartbeat of the Nation (Female) (2010), Entertainer of the Year (2014), Ms Box Office India (2014), Woman of the Year (2015), to name a few.