Deepika Padukone is an actress and former model from India. Padukone made her acting debut with the Kannada movie Aishwarya, which was released in 2006. She made her Hindi cinema debut the following year with the smash Om Shanti Om, for which she won the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award.

Padukone was born in the Danish city of Copenhagen. When she was eleven months old, her family relocated to Bangalore, India. Padukone was born in Mangalore and speaks Konkani as her native tongue. Her ancestors are from Padukone village in the Kundapura Taluk of the Udupi District of Karnataka, India.

Padukone tried a modeling career while in college. She was sighted competing in a ramp competition at Bangalore’s NLS. She has modeled for Indian brands like Liril, Dabur Lal powder, Close-Up toothpaste, and Limca over the years, as well as serving as the “brand ambassador” for the Jewels of India retail jewelry exhibition. Maybelline has appointed her as its international spokesperson.

She was named “Model of the Year” at the fifth annual Kingfisher Fashion Awards. She was selected as one of the models for the 2006 Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar and received two prizes at the Idea Zee Fashion Awards for “Female Model of the Year” and “Fresh Face of the Year.”

Deepika was one of the most diligent students at the Anupam Kher School of Acting, where she received her professional acting training. Padukone ventured out into acting after a successful career as a model. She made her debut in the music video for Himesh Reshammiya’s song Naam Hai Tera from the independent pop album Aap Kaa Surroor.

According to IndiaFM’s Taran Adarsh, “Deepika has all it takes to be a big star: the personality, the looks, and, yes, the talent. It takes a lot of skill to stand in the same frame as SRK and get it correctly. She’s like a breath of fresh air!”

Padukone then starred alongside Ranbir Kapoor in Siddharth Anand’s romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno, alongside Bipasha Basu and Minissha Lamba.

The movie, which premiered on August 15, 2008, did well at the box office. Her next film, Chandni Chowk To China, was a critical and commercial flop when it was released on January 16, 2009. Padukone’s fourth film, Love Aaj Kal, was released on July 31, 2009, and became one of the year’s biggest hits.

Padukone next starred alongside Farhan Akhtar in Excel Entertainment’s Karthik Calling Karthik, which was released on February 26, 2009. He also appeared in Sajid Khan’s Housefull with Akshay Kumar, Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, and Kunal Kohli’s Break Ke Baad with Imran Khan.

Deepika began writing weekly essays for Hindustan Times’ leisure edition, HT City, in 2009. These columns can be found on the Desimartini social networking site.