$16,000,000
Deepika Padukone
Net Worth
Born in (City)
Copenhagen
Born in (Country)
Denmark
Date of Birth
05th December, 1986
Date of Death
-
Mother
Ujjala Padukone
Father
Prakash Padukone
About
Deepika Padukone is an Indian actress and director who works in Hindi movies. One of India's most well-paid actresses, her nominations include three Filmfare Awards. She features in the list of the nation's most prominent celebrities, and Time named her one of the 100 most influential women in the world in 2018. Padukone, the daughter of a badminton player named Prakash Padukone, was born in Copenhagen and raised in Bangalore. As a teenager, she played badminton at national level competitions but abandoned her career in sport to become a fashion model. She soon got offers for film roles and made her acting debut as the title character of the Kannada film Aishwarya in 2006. Padukone then played a dual role opposite Shah Rukh Khan in her first Bollywood movie, the novel Om Shanti Om (2007), which earned her the Best Female Debut Filmfare Award. Padukone was lauded for her supporting performance in the romance Love Aaj Kal (2009), but this was followed by a slight setback. Deepika Padukone is one of the best products of Bollywood in recent times. The athlete turned into an actress has been through several ups and downs in both her professional and her personal life. Every young Indian knows her name and iconic actresses like Hema Malini have named her the latest "Dream Girl" because of her ability to be charming, charming, and seductive on the screen when she's still a very bankable star. But the story of this Indian celebrity did not begin in India or near Bollywood. It attracts a following of 52.4 million followers to Instagram and 27.7 million followers to Twitter. She has been featured in several of the most popular publications from time to time and ranks among the highest-earning actresses in the country.
Early Life
Padukone was born on 5 January 1986 in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Konkani-speaking parents in the Saraswat Brahmin tribe. Her father, Prakash Padukone, was a former professional badminton player, and her mother, Ujjala, was a travel agent. Anisha, her younger sibling, is a golfer. Her father's grandfather, Ramesh, was the president of the Mysore Badminton Association. The family moved to Bangalore, India when Padukone was one year old. She was educated at Sophia High School in Bangalore and finished her pre-university education at Mount Carmel College. Subsequently, she enrolled at the Indira Gandhi National Open University for a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology but later left because of time problems with her modeling job. Padukone said she was socially insecure as a child, and she didn't have many friends. The subject of her life was badminton, which she played competitively from a young age on. Describing her everyday routine in a 2012 interview, Padukone said, "I'd wake up at five o'clock in the morning, go to school, go to badminton again, finish my homework, and go to sleep." Padukone started her career in badminton during her school years, playing at state-level championships. She has played baseball in a couple of state-level tournaments. Though focusing on her education and sports career, Padukone also worked as a child model, first featuring in a pair of promotional campaigns at the age of eight. In the tenth grade, she changed her focus and wanted to become a fashion model. Later, she said, "I realized that I was only playing the game because it was in the family. So, I asked my dad if I should give up the game, and he wasn't upset at all." In 2004, she started her full-time career as a model under the tutelage of Prasad Bidapa.
Road to Success
Early in her career, Padukone was recognised by the Liril TV advert and modelled for numerous other brands and items. In 2005, she made her debut at the Lakme Fashion Week for designer Suneet Varma and received the "Model of the Year" award at the Kingfisher Fashion Awards. Padukone's popularity grew when she starred in a widely successful print advertisement for the 2006 Kingfisher Calendar; the designer Wendell Rodricks said, "Since Aishwarya Rai, we haven't seen a girl as gorgeous and young." Rodricks had seen her at the Ganjam Jewelry class he was teaching and signed her up with the Matrix Agency. At the age of 21, Padukone moved to Mumbai and lived at her aunt's house. That year, she received broader attention by featuring Himesh Reshammiya's song "Naam Hai Tera" in the music video. Padukone quickly started to obtain film role offers. Believing that she was too inexperienced as an actress, she instead enrolled in Anupam Kher's film academy. After much media hype, director Farah Khan, who had seen her in Reshammiya's music video, made the decision to play her a part in Happy New Year. Fashion designer Wendell Rodricks also takes credit for making her play a part. Farah Khan was looking for a model to appear in her next film, and she got in touch with Malaika Arora. Rodricks, for whom Padukone had been modelling for about two years, recommended her to Arora, his close associate, who in turn recommended her to Khan in 2007.
Challenges
As her modeling career prospered, she began to make appearances on television commercials like Liril and fashion shows like Lakme Fashion Week. After she won the "Model of the Year" award at the Kingfisher Fashion Awards in 2005 and got featured in a print campaign for the 2006 Kingfisher Calendar, designer Wendell Rodricks commented that her beauty and freshness rivaled that of Aishwarya Rai. Coincidentally, she appeared in the Kannada Film called Aishwarya in that same year in 2006. Even though the film was a commercial success, her lack of acting experience and expertise was visible since she had only recently started taking acting classes in Anupam Kher’s film academy. Also, by that time, Hindi audiences had already become familiar with her after she was featured in the music video for Himesh Reshammiya’s song "Naam Hai Tera". Impressing Wendell as a model also proved to be fruitful as it was he who referred her to Malika Arora who then referred her to director Farah Khan, who at the time was looking for a fresh face to cast in her Happy New Year film. Having already seen Deepika in “Naam Hai Tera”, Farah decided to cast her in Happy New Year opposite Shah Rukh Khan.
Unfortunately, Happy New Year was shelved by the end of 2006 and Farah Khan decided to make Om Shanti Om instead, using the same leads. During shooting, Deepika struggled to impress Farah with her Hindi pronunciation and dialogue delivery. Thus, her voice was dubbed by the voice artist Mona Ghosh Shetty and audiences who fell in love with her in the film never got to hear her real voice in her first Hindi film. Despite all this, Om Shanti Om was a commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2007 and getting a global revenue of ₹1.49 billion (US$21 million). This breakthrough success brought Deepika the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award and also her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress nomination. In the following years till 2011, Deepika struggled to consistently give a good performance and bring box office success for studios. Although films like Love Aaj Kal and Housefull did well commercially, they were not good examples of her performance. Even in the films like Karthik Calling Karthik and Lafangey Parindey where her performance was lauded, those films were not box office successes again.
In 2012, her performance as an impulsive party girl in the commercial hit Cocktail marked the beginning of her being viewed as an actress that was both beautiful and capable of giving good performances. She really established herself as a bankable leading lady in 2013 when she was featured in all the four top-grossing productions of that year- Race 2, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Chennai Express, and Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela. The latter two of these films earned her several awards including the Screen Award for Best Actress for both films and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the latter. This achievement allowed her to negotiate a hefty pay for the Tamil film Kochadaiiyaan in 2014, where she only worked for 2 days. Finding Fanny was another successful film for Deepika that year. 2015 was largely a successful year for Deepika, except for the film with her ex-boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor- Tamasha. Her film with Amitabh called Piku showcased her portrayal of a headstrong daughter in a rare depiction of a father-daughter bond in Hindi cinema, and she got nominated for the Best Actress award for it at Filmfare. Her last film of that year, the historical extramarital drama Bajorao Mastani was a commercial success and earned her another Best Actress nomination at the 61st Filmfare Awards, where she already got the award for her performance in Piku. Both Piku and Bajirao Mastani were box office hits.
By that time, Deepika had already established herself as a formidable box office draw and a talented actress. She had also been able to make an impression overseas. In 2016, she was invited to audition for XXX: Return of Xander Cage by none other than Vin Diesel, who had probably been keeping an eye on her. Although the film got mixed reviews, it did well commercially, earning $345 million worldwide and earned Deepika nominations at the Teen Choice Awards. In 2018, Deepika received another Best Actress nomination at Filmfare for her performance in Padmaavat. Although the film was quite expensive when compared to most Bollywood films, it was also extremely successful and became one of Indian cinema. That same year, she created her own production company called “Ka Productions” and in 2020, it gave audiences its first produce- Chhapaak, where Deepika portrayed an acid attack survivor. The film, which was based on the true story of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal, received critical acclaim but did not perform well in the box office.
Although Deepika has had some failures when it comes to films, her successes far outweigh her failures. Many of her earlier performances were called “mannequin-like”, “too subtle” or “plasticky” by film critics. After Deepika became an established celebrity, it was her films and their content that began to stir controversy and troubles for her. Bajirao Mastani was criticized, especially by historians for historical inaccuracies in the portrayal of the characters. Her other period film, Padmaavat, stirred an even greater controversy with many people giving out death threats to the actress and the film director, besides resulting in calls for boycotts and property violence on theatres that showed the film. The anger of the right-wing Hindu groups was based on the speculation that the film was going to display romance between a Muslim invader and a Rajput queen. Another criticism of the film was that it seemed to romanticize “Jauhar”, the practice of self-immolation to preserve one’s honor. Her presence in JNU during the student protests earlier this year also got her some flak from people accusing her of performative activism. Her support for Black Lives Matter whilst endorsing colorism in India via the whitening products she endorses definitely did not help with the accusation. Her request to her Tik Tok followers to make themselves look like acid-attack victims while promoting Chhapaak also drew her lots of controversy. Besides this, in December 2020, she was summoned by the Narcotics Control Bureau of India for her alleged purchase of drugs from Jaya Saha, the manager of the late Sushant Singh Rajput. Actress Kangana Ranaut was reported to have alleged that Deepika’s drug habits were related to her depression.
Failures
While Deepika has had some setbacks when it comes to movies, her achievements far outweigh her failures. Many of her earlier roles were deemed "mannequin-like," "too subtle" or "plastic" by film critics. Since Deepika became a well-established star, her films and their contents started to stir up controversy and trouble for her. Bajirao Mastani has been criticized, in particular by historians, for historical imprecisions in the representation of characters. Her other period film, Padmaavat, stirred up yet more outrage with many people threatening to kill the actress and the filmmaker, as well as calling for boycotts and property attacks on theatres that screened the film. Another critique of the film was that it appeared to romanticize "Jauhar," the ritual of self-immolation to protect one's reputation. Her participation in JNU during the student demonstrations earlier this year even received some flak from people who suspected her of practicing activism. Her advocacy for Black Lives Matter through promoting colorism in India through the whitening items that she endorses obviously did not assist with the allegation. Her appeal to her followers of Tik Tok to make themselves look like acid-attack victims while supporting Chhapaak also provoked a lot of controversies. In addition, she was summoned by the Narcotics Control Bureau of India in December 2020 for her alleged procurement of drugs from Jaya Saha, the manager of late Sushant Singh Rajput. Actress Kangana Ranaut was claimed to have alleged that Deepika's opioid habits were linked to her depression.
Achievements
She has won three Filmfare Awards
Quotes
- The fruit of your own hard work is the sweetest.
- Never lose focus of what you want for yourself. And don’t be afraid of making mistakes.