Deepika Padukone

The daughter of the renowned World Badminton Champion, Prakash Padukone, the girl known for her innocent looks and ravishing onscreen appearances, Deepika Padukone has certainly something that sets herself apart from the rest.

Deepika was born in 1986 in Bangalore, India. Her modeling career started off with advertisements campaigns for Liril Soap, Close-Up toothpaste and Limca etc. After that she received many celebrated modeling contracts that included brand ambassadorship of the Jewels of India, an annual jewelry exhibition. But she came into prominence with the advertisement for Maybelline. The prestigious cosmetic company made her their new international cover face.
Deepika was honored with the title of the ‘Model of the Year’ at the fifth annual Kingfisher Fashion Awards for Indian models and designers. She was also the chosen face for the Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar for 2006. Deepika also won two trophies at the Idea Zee F Awards in 2006- Female Model of the Year (Commercial Assignments) and Fresh Face of the Year. These laurels elevated and established her status from a model to a supermodel. After gaining immense success on the ramp, Deepika has made a foray in the Bollywood. She made her debut in a music video for “Naam Hai Tera”, a song from the pop album Aap Ka Suroor, an album by the well-known Bollywood singer and composer Himesh Reshammiya. She inaugurated her career in movies with a Kannada film ‘Aishwarya’ which is directed by the famous director Indrajit Lankesh. In the movie she had with her the versatile Kannada actor, Upendra. Deepika’s first film has already proved to be a hit at the box-office. Her performance in the movie is widely acclaimed. Recently Deepika has signed three Hindi movies- ace director Pritadarshan’s forthcoming film, Pirate, Farah Khan’s second directorial venture ‘Om Shanti Om’ and Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Delhi 6’. All the three movies will hit the theater in this year (2007). But while millions await to watch the glamorous damsel’s work in three phenomenal directors project, Deepkia rejects all claims of working with Priyadarshan. According to her she has never even come across this South Indian director. The Liril girl is even silent about working with Farah Khan and Omprakash Mehra.

The young and beautiful actress Deepika Padukone has gained stardom with the success of her first film “Om Shanti Om”. Recently Deeps also won a prize for the budding actress.
Deepika reveals that she prepared for the 70’s era character by watching films starring Hema Malini and Helen. She told the IANS that “I watched a lot of films starring Hema Malini and Helen, for instance ‘Jewel Thief’ and ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’, to notice how they were made.
“In the films of that time, everything was over the top - the emotions were exaggerated though I enjoy the originality of the ’70s era films. The actors were more graceful and their body language was completely different from today’s actors,”
Deepika added that “I don’t count myself as a big star yet, there is a long way for me to go. I think my father handled success very well and it is in my genes to be humble.”
The daughter of the renowned badminton player Prakash Padukone is overjoyed with the success of her film and her increasing popularity. Deepika said that “Honestly, when we were shooting for the film I had never thought that it would be a huge hit. I just gave my 100 percent to it.
“Also, when you are working for a film you feel you have given it your best. However, when you later see your work you find so many things that need improvement. I think it is just the start.”
Deepika reveals that she owes her fame to the director of the film “Om Shanti Om” to its director Farah Khan who helped her to get accustomed to the camera. She says that “Farah planned it in such a way that I had to shoot scenes with small dialogues on the first day and gradually moved on to bigger scenes with longer dialogues. It helped me in performing well to a great extent.
“The ’60s-’70s fashion is in vogue again. I am completely bowled over by Farah, who dared to use that look in her film. She has portrayed it so well.”
But the model turned actress Deepika admits that fashion is completely different in Bollywood and on the ramp. She says that “There is a lot of difference between fashion on the ramp and that portrayed in films. Though it was a little weird to wear such clothes on screen, but Manish (Malhotra) helped me get the confidence, as we couldn’t afford to go wrong with the looks.”

Deepika has a younger sister Anisha who wants to be a golf pro. Her mother Ujjala is a travel agent while her father played at the international level for India and won the All England Championship in 1980. Following in her father’s footsteps, she did play state level badminton till the 10th standard. But she stopped playing for three months when she had to study for her ICSE board exams. She never considered taking it up as a career because she was never interested in a professional sport. She took up modelling as a hobby that soon turned her into a star. Today, she wants to do a sports-based film, preferably on badminton, her father’s sport.

Deepika Padukone Bio
Deepika Padukone Birth Date:
05/01/1986
Deepika Padukone Birth Place:
Copenhagen, Denmark
Marital Status
Unmarried
Language
Hindi
Kannada

Deepika Padukone - Quotes..

(About her open relationship with Ranbir Kapoor): The main thing is that it’s not about hiding our relationship or wanting the world to know. It’s about being sure. And I think when you are sure and you truly are in love, why would you want to hide it?I didn’t even know that I would get into films. I started getting a lot of assignments for endorsements in terms of print, ramp etc. I think Farah (Khan) noticed one of my music videos with Himesh and sort of decided to take me in her film.I always say if you enjoy your work and enjoy the process of being part of a film, everything else will follow.Rakhi Sawant is very honest and always speaks her mind and that’s so good about her. Before I was signed for Om Shanti Om, I used to go to the same dance class as her.I grew up watching Aishwarya Rai. When I was in school, I remember how thrilled I was when she won Miss World. Ash and Sushmita Sen are people I've admired.(About what she and Ranbir talk about): We do know what's going on in each other's careers. But otherwise we try to keep cinema out of our conversation. We try not to get into one another's workspace.I was very nervous about working with Shah Rukh Khan. But Farah and Shah Rukh made it very comfortable for me. We did readings together, we met socially so that we were comfortable when we faced the camera. He's again someone I grew up watching.(About her being choosy with films): You've to be sure of what you're doing. So often I say 'no' because I don't have the time. I meet every director who wants to meet me. I do consult my parents. It would be unfair to distance them from my career just because they aren't part of the entertainment industry. But the final decision is mine.(About how her parents react to her frequent link-ups): It used to affect them initially. Now they're fed up reading new things every morning. We've decided to continue with our normal lives.
(About her co-star in Chandni Chowk to China): Akshay (Kumar) taught me lots of action. He said that action is like dancing so you have to be very graceful while doing it. I like to believe that main next female Akshay Kumar hoon (I'm the next female Akshay Kumar).We had thought of using adhesive tapes on my face so that my eyes would stretch for the Chinese look initially, but it wasn't a good idea to use tapes. They're bad for the skin.Akshay Kumar is a fantastic co-star.

The way he comes on the sets and goes through the scenes of the day and the way he improvises, is tremendous.Look at what Chak De India did to hockey. I would love to do a really good film on the game of badminton. I would like to contribute as much as possible to sports. Yes, I'd support badminton more than any other sport. But I'd like to support Indian sports in every way possible