At 34, Deepika Reaches A Crucial Crossroads In Her Life And Career

Ali Peter John

Prakash Padukone was not only one of the best Badminton players for India, but was also one of the most handsome player and some people were of the opinion that he could make as a good model or an actor and he was also approached with some offers but he was too withdrawn and almost shy to even try his luck in any of these two fields and when his time in the son was over as a player he went back to Bangalore, his native place and got married and settle down to a retired life, but his fame lived with him.

He had a daughter who inspired by his own name, he named Deepika and who gradually showed her interest in play Badminton and was quite good at the game, but unlike her father, she was also interested in a little bit of glamour and so took to modelling and was soon accepted as one of the leading models.

Modelling gradually let to her growing a little more ambitious and just when her ambition was taking wings, Shah Rukh Khan and his director Farah Khan happened to see her and unanimously decided that she was the right choice to play the romantic lead in "Om Shanti Om". One thing led one other. Om Shanti Om was one of the most talked about films and Deepika was welcomed as a very good actress for the industry, an actress who had all the potential to make it big or that was the opinion of all those who mattered in the industry, in the media and in among masses.

She soon realized the advantages of being the heroine of a Shah Rukh Khan film as her very first film when she found film offers coming to her in droves and she also realized that this was the time when she would have to take all the right decisions or things could go desperately wrong for her. She was a new girl, but a girl with her head very much in the right place and that showed in the kind of choices she made in the films she selected to play. The one most clever and practical thing she did was that she did not join the grabbing brigade or the money - making factories. She wanted to be comfortable in her own zone and was in no hurry to prove herself to anyone.

The one sensible step she took was when she agreed to do an unusual film called "Piku" with Amitabh Bachchan playing her forever constipated father and Irrfan Khan playing the driver who has easy solutions to every problem. This one film did a world of good to Deepika because like she said, she found a rare opportunity to learn from two different kinds of living institutions in Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan Khan. The film opened a new door to a new kind of entertainment for the ever willing to learn Deepika.

She had a brief spell of the main stream kind of glossy cinema when she worked with Ranbir Kapoor and their teaming up even led to their having some kind of serious romantic liaison which went to the extent of their being talk about their exchanging rings and planning to take those seven rounds with the approval of their parents. But there came a time when there was a clash between what man proposes and what god or destiny disposes and the grand plans were quashed and the two went their own ways, only taking their fond memories with them.

Deepika now decided to concentrate completely on her carrier and her decision changed the course of her carrier and her entire life. The first signs of change for her were seen when she signed Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Bajirao Mastani" in which she had Ranveer Singh as her hero and it was followed by Bhansali's "Padmavat" which also has Ranveer Singh and like it has happened in cases where actors have been teamed in films in which they are together for long spells of time and have many intimate scenes, it happened with Deepika and Ranveer too. The most unusual team had fallen head over heels over love with one another and within months their marriage was one of the most talked about marriages in the modern history of Indian cinema.

If it was the 50's or the 60's, a marriage between two successful stars could have led to speculation about whether they would work together or not after marriage, but Deepika and Ranveer are going all odd to break all customs and traditions.

Deepika could have done any of the big and ambitious films that were being offered to her on her terms, but all her plans went for one big toss when Meghna Gulzar gave her one narration of the script of her film based on the true life story of Laxmi Agarwal the female Acid survival from Delhi and Deepika not only agreed to do the film called " Chhapaak" as the main character, but also took a split second decision to turn a producer with the film, off course with the support of her husband, Ranveer.

Deepika has gone through one big experience to live the role of Laxmi Agarwal (even though they have changed her name in the film). She has had change her face completely which she has done with the kind of prosthetics which no Indian actress has tried before. But like she says, " More than the physical appearances, it is the transformation from within that matters when you play a character as serious and intense as this and I have worked my heart out to do my best because I know very well that a role like this comes to an actress only once in a way, at least in India when our filmmaker gave still to have the guts to treat there actress seriously, with respect and with dignity they deserve. I thank god for giving me an opportunity to work with a director like Meghna Gulzar who has made films like Talwar and Raazi and who is soon going to make a film on Field Marshall Maneckshaw. "

On this birthday, Deepika can look back with pride on her carrier so far and also think about how she now stands at a very crucial crossroad. She has another film with her husband, Ranveer, "83" which is based on India's World Cup victory over The West Indies in 1983 under the captaincy of Kapil Dev, a role which is being played by Ranveer Singh, who has his real wife, Deepika, playing his reel life wife in the film.

To think of it, from Om Shanti Om to Piku, to the films with Ranbir Kapoor, to the films with Ranveer Singh, Deepika has already come such a long way .... and it is only just one more young birthday and there are so many more birthdays to go for this women who once dazzled on the Badminton courts and the modelling ramps and who is now leaving in the hearts of the millions of her admirers who are looking forward to the conquered by her in a bigger way now known and are more confident and sure than her that she can do it and she will not let them down... ever.

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Prakash Padukone, Deepika Padukone