For the past two years, Deepika Padukone has launched India’s box office with remarkable success. In 2023, she reunited with her Om Shanti Om co-star Shah Rukh Khan for the espionage thriller Pathaan. This film garnered $76 million in India and surpassed the $100 million global box office milestone without a release in China. This year, Padukone starred in the Hindi aviation action film Fighter, directed by Siddharth Anand, which achieved $43 million globally within 30 days.
Padukone emphasizes that while box office success and accolades are significant, her personal experiences and interactions on set hold the most value for her. She states, “The success of a movie, the box office, and the awards are important, but the time spent with people and the experiences on set are the most important to me.”
Deepika Padukone, once a Cannes jury member and now one of India’s leading actresses, began her career in 2007 with the blockbuster Om Shanti Om, opposite Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan. Directed by Farah Khan, the film is considered a classic in Indian cinema. Farah Khan cast Padukone, an unknown model and former badminton player (her father is the Indian world champion Prakash Padukone), as the lead without an audition, which was a surprising decision that quickly elevated Padukone to stardom. Reflecting on this, Padukone recalls being astonished by the faith placed in her, saying, “I remember thinking, ‘Why would they invest so much in a big movie with a superstar and cast me without an audition?'”
Padukone reminisces about her early days in the industry, feeling young and inexperienced but also protected and supported by her co-stars and the film’s team. She credits them for helping her deliver her lines well and making her feel comfortable on set. The promotion of Om Shanti Om significantly boosted her career, changing her life overnight.
Since then, Padukone has featured in numerous hit films, including romantic comedies like Cocktail, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, and Chennai Express, the heist comedy Happy New Year, and period dramas Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat. She also won two Filmfare Awards for Best Actress for her role in Piku in 2015. This year, she is set to release Kalki 2829 AD in May, an epic sci-fi film starring Telugu actor Prabhas, which she describes as a blend of mythology and post-apocalyptic themes. She is also filming Singham Again, the third installment in Rohit Shetty’s Singham series, co-starring her husband, Ranveer Singh.
Later this year, Padukone will star in and produce a Bollywood remake of the 2015 film The Intern, originally starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway. This project marks the second from her production company, Ka Productions, following the 2020 film Chhapaak, where she portrayed acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal.
Padukone is among the few Bollywood actors to have ventured into Hollywood, debuting in the 2017 film xXx: Return of Xander Cage alongside Vin Diesel. She recalls her initial struggles with the audition process in Hollywood, which was a new experience for her, given that she had never auditioned before and had no formal acting training. Over time, she has observed significant changes in the global film industry, highlighting the success of Indian films like RRR, which won an Oscar for Best Original Song in 2023.
Padukone believes that while Indian storytelling has always been rich, the global audience has only recently opened up to it. She observes, “The world is now more receptive to the East, especially India.”
Beyond her acting career, Padukone actively promotes mental health awareness. In 2015, she openly discussed her struggle with depression and anxiety in an interview with NDTV, breaking the stigma surrounding mental health in India. She founded the Live Love Laugh foundation, a non-profit organization focused on raising awareness about mental health issues, particularly in rural areas and corporate settings.
Reflecting on her journey, Padukone says, “When I went through my own experience with anxiety and depression, I wondered why it was such a taboo subject. That’s what prompted me to speak out and normalize it.”
