Biography:

Deepika Padukone is an Indian film actress and model. She has established a successful career in Hindi (Bollywood) films, and is cited in the media as one of the most popular and attractive Indian celebrities.

Padukone, the daughter of the badminton player Prakash Padukone, was born in Copenhagen and raised in Bangalore. As a teenager she played badminton in national level championships, but left her career in sport to become a fashion model. She soon received offers for film roles, and made her acting debut in 2006 as the titular character of the Kannada film Aishwarya. Padukone then played dual roles in her first Bollywood release—the 2007 blockbuster Om Shanti Om—and won a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

Padukone received praise for portraying the lead female roles in the 2009 romance Love Aaj Kal and the 2010 drama Lafangey Parindey, but her performances in the 2008 romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno and the 2010 comedy Housefull met with negative reviews. She followed it with roles in a series of commercially unsuccessful films that failed to propel her career forward. The 2012 box office hit Cocktail marked a significant turning point in her career, earning her critical acclaim and Best Actress nominations at several award ceremonies. In 2013, Padukone established herself as a leading actress of Hindi cinema by playing primary roles in the comedies Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Chennai Express (both of which rank among the highest-grossing Bollywood films of all time), and won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance in the tragic romance Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela.

Alongside her acting career, Padukone participates in stage shows, has written columns for an Indian newspaper, and is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products. Her off-screen life is the subject of fervent tabloid reporting in India.

Early life and modelling career

Deepika Padukone was born on 5 January 1986 in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Konkani-speaking parents. Her father, Prakash, is a former badminton player of international repute, and her mother, Ujjala, is a travel agent. Her younger sister, Anisha, is a golfer. Her paternal grandfather, Ramesh, was secretary of the Mysore Badminton Association for many years. The family relocated to Bangalore, India, when Padukone was a year old. She was educated at Bangalore's Sophia High School, and completed her pre-university education at Mount Carmel College. She subsequently enrolled at the Indira Gandhi National Open University for a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology, but later dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with her modelling career.

Padukone has admitted to being socially awkward as a child, and did not have many friends. The focus of her life was badminton, which she played competitively from a young age. Describing her daily routine in a 2012 interview, Padukone said, "I would wake up at five in the morning, go for physical training, go to school, again go for playing badminton, finish my homework and go to sleep." Padukone continued to pursue a career in badminton throughout her school years, and played the sport in national level championships. She also played baseball in a few state level tournaments. While concentrating on her education and sporting career, Padukone also worked as a child model, first appearing in a couple of advertising campaigns at the age of eight. In the tenth grade, she changed focus and decided to become a fashion model. She later explained, "I realised that I was playing the game only because it ran in the family. So, I asked my father if I could give up the game and he wasn't upset at all." In 2004, she began a full-time career as a model under the tutelage of Prasad Bidapa.

Early in her career, Padukone gained recognition with a television commercial for the soap Liril, and modelled for various other brands and products. In 2005, she made her runway debut at the Lakme Fashion Week for designer Suneet Varma, and won the "Model of the Year" award at the Kingfisher Fashion Awards. Padukone's fame increased when she appeared in a highly popular print campaign for the 2006 Kingfisher Calendar; the designer Wendell Rodricks commented, "Since Aishwarya Rai, we haven't had a girl as beautiful and fresh." Rodricks had spotted her at a Ganjam jewellery class he was teaching and signed her up with the Matrix agency. At the age of 21, Padukone relocated to Mumbai and stayed at her aunt's home. That year, she gained wider recognition by featuring in the music video for Himesh Reshammiya's song "Naam Hai Tera."

Padukone soon began to receive offers for film roles. Believing herself to be too inexperienced as an actor, she instead enrolled for a course at Anupam Kher's film academy. Following much media speculation, the director Farah Khan, who had noticed her in Reshammiya's music video, made the decision to cast her for a role in Happy New Year.

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