Birthdate: Jan 5, 1986
Birthplace: Copenhagen, Denmark
Deepika Padukone is a leading actress in (mainly) Hindi-language Indian cinema. After a successful modeling career, Padukone shifted into acting but struggled in her early big-screen years from 2006 to 2011 with a mix of flops and hits. Padukone’s turning point happened with her acclaimed starring turn in Cocktail (2012), directed by Homi Adajania, followed by a consecutive string of box-office hits in 2013, including director Abbas-Mustan’s action movie, Race 2, with Saif Ali Khan and John Abraham; director-writer Ayan Mukerji’s Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani/Youth is Crazy, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapur, and Kalki Koechlin; the Rohit Shetty-directed action comedy, Chennai Express, co-starring Shah Rukh Khan, and earning over $17 million and seven Filmfare nominations; and co-writer/director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s romantic tragedy based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela/A Dance of Bullets: Ram-Leela, co-starring Ranveer Singh and released by Eros International.
Padukone did her first voice performance in an animated movie, the Eros International-backed Tamil-language Kochadaiiyaan (2014), with the voices of Rajinikanth and Shobana under Soundarya Rajinikanth’s direction. Padukone then co-starred in her first English-language movie, Finding Fanny (2014), with Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia, Pankaj Kapur, and Arjun Kapoor, under co-writer Homi Adajania’s direction for Fox Star Studios.
Deepika Padukone reunited with Shah Rukh Khan as co-stars of co-writer/director Farah Khan’s action comedy, Happy New Year (2014), with Amitabh Bachchan and Sonu Sood, delivering nearly $65 million returns for distributor Yash Raj Films, and then Padukone won Filmfare Award’s best actress prize for her turn in the title role of the Shoojit Sircar-directed comedy-drama, Piku (2015), co-starring Amitabh and Irrfan Khan. Padukone co-starred with Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra in director/co-writer/producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 18th-century epic, Bajirao Mastani (2015), based on Nagnath S. Inamdar’s novel, Rau, followed by Padukone performing in her first Hollywood movie, the sequel XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017), starring Vin Diesel, Samuel L. Jackson, Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa, and Toni Collette, and grossing over $346 million globally for Paramount Pictures.
Padukone reunited with filmmaker/composer Sanjay Leela Bhansali for the title role in Padmaavat (2018), the first Indian movie released in IMAX 3D by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and grossing over $69 million worldwide. Padukone took on the double duties of star and producer for her next two features—director/co-writer/co-producer Meghna Gulzar’s biopic and box-office failure, Chhapaak (2020), and director-writer Kabir Khan’s sports-themed biopic, 83 (2021), co-starring Ranveer Singh and earning good reviews but low box-office returns for distributor PVR Pictures.
Deepika Padukone teamed up again with Shah Rukh Khan on two consecutive movies: the Siddarth Anand-directed thriller, Pathaan (2023), grossing a knockout $130 million globally for Yash Raj Films; and debuting co-writer/director Atlee’s thriller, Jawan (2023), in which Padukone made a special appearance. Padukone co-starred with Hrithik Roshan and Anil Kapoor in co-writer/director Siddarth Anand’s military thriller, Fighter (2024), and in the same year, Padukone starred in one of her few Hindi and Telugu-language movies, writer-director Nag Ashwin’s sci-fi epic, Kalki 2898 AD (2024), co-starring Prabhas and Amitabh Bachchan; and then played a featured role in director/co-writer/producer Rohit Shetty’s action movie, Singham Again (2024), the fifth installment in Shetty’s “Cop Universe” series.
Padukone reunited once again with the legendary Amitabh Bachchan for Amit Ravindernath Sharma’s comedy-drama remake of writer-director Nancy Meyers’ Hollywood original, The Intern (date to be announced), with Neena Gupta.
Deepika Padukone was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was raised by her father Prakash (badminton champion), and her mother Ujjala Padukone (travel agent). Padukone has one sister, Anisha (pro golfer). Padukone’s family moved to Bangalore when she was one year old, and where she grew up and was educated. Padukone attended Sophia High School and Mount Carmel College. Padukone attended Indira Gandhi National Open University and majored in sociology, leaving university to pursue her modeling career. Padukone studied acting at Anupam Kher’s film academy in Mumbai. Padukone has been married to actor-producer Ranveer Singh since 2018. Padukone’s height is 5’ 7½ ”. Padukone’s estimated net worth is $40 million.
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AKA: Deepika Padukone’s nickname is “Deepu.”
Badminton: Padukone followed in her father’s footsteps and played competitive badminton as a child and a teen up to the national level, and also played baseball.
Wedding: Deepika Padukone married regular co-star Ranveer Singh after dating him since 2012, and they wed in a traditional Konkani Hindu and Sikh Anand Karaj ceremony at Lake Como, Italy.
Beyond Acting: Padukone has written opinion columns, pieces on women’s health and fitness for newspapers and magazines, a weekly lifestyle column for the Hindustan Times, running in the World 10K Bangalore marathon, supporting the NDTV Greenathon Campaign to develop rural electrification in India, and has led campaigns to support India’s Olympic athletes.