She made a debut that most can only dream of – paired with Shah Rukh Khan in Om Shanti Om in 2007 – and from there on, Bangalore girl Deepika Padukone has taken Mumbai by storm. She has had a few blips in her decade-long acting career, but today, she is considered one of the most bankable leading ladies in the Hindi film industry.
While Deepika has been part of commercial entertainers such as Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008) and Housefull (2010), she has also experimented with genres and played diverse characters in Cocktail (2012), Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram Leela (2013) and Bajirao Mastani (2015), among others. Deepika’s career progression is perfectly defined by the fact that some of the industry’s top directors have written films with her as the protagonist. From a career-defining role in Piku (2015) to Padmaavat (2018), Deepika has carried these films on her shoulders, a rarity in an industry known to bank on male actors.
One of the highest paid woman actors from the current lot, the former model is also the first choice as face of several coveted brands. Her Hollywood debut, opposite Vin Diesel upped her star quotient, not just in India but globally. But it’s not just her acting skills and star quotient that connects her to the audiences. Deepika has freely spoken about her fight with depression and mental health, and it’s this vulnerable side of hers that makes the 32-year-old different from many of her contemporaries.