Deepika Padukone turned 36 today. (Photos: YouTube and Instagram/Deepika Padukone) Deepika Padukone left her flourishing modelling career and stepped into the world of cinema first with Kannada film Aishwarya (2006) and then Bollywood blockbuster Om Shanti Om (2007). By that time, Deepika was already the face of several brands and the showstopper for leading fashion designers. As the actor turns 35 today, here’s looking at her career before she became a Bollywood star.
Deepika spent most of her childhood on the badminton court. She played the sport at the national level aiming to follow the career path of her father Prakash Padukone. But soon she realised she was doing it only because “it ran in the family.” Badminton ace PV Sindhu once wrote on Instagram, “If she would’ve played badminton, she would’ve become the top player.”
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In 2004, at the age of 18, Deepika took the big leap of faith and turned to fashion modelling full time, with a Liril ad being one of the first endorsements. Of course, she had been a child model since the age of eight, so facing camera wasn’t an issue. The following year, Deepika made her ramp debut at the Lakme Fashion Week for designer Suneet Varma. Designer Wendell Rodricks spotted her at a jewellery class where he was a teacher and signed her up with a modelling agency.
Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif in an old photo from their modelling days. (Photo: Instagram/Marc Robinson) Deepika’s major breakthrough came when she won the “Model of the Year” award at the Kingfisher Fashion Awards. And in 2006, she became a notable name in the print campaign for Kingfisher Calendar.
Things transpired real quick for Deepika and by the time she turned 21, she had to leave her hometown Bangalore (Bengaluru) and relocate to Mumbai. Her first acting stint before films so to say, came when she appeared in Himesh Reshammiya’s music video “Naam Hai Tera”. Not just the song became a runway hit, but it shot Deepika to spotlight.
How Deepika landed Om Shanti Om is an interesting story too. When Deepika became a much sought after face, receiving film offers were inevitable. And Farah Khan, who was planning her next big directorial needed a model to star opposite Shah Rukh Khan. She connected with her good friend Malaika Arora. And Malaika reached out to Wendell Rodricks who recommended Deepika’s name as by now she’d been modelling for him for two years.
Deepika enrolled in Anupam Kher’s acting institute Actor Prepares where actor-model and her rumoured ex-boyfriend Nihar Pandya was her batchmate.
Deepika Padukone with her batchmates at Anupam Kher’s Actor Prepares. 
Deepika Padukone with lead actor Upendra in Kannada film Aishwarya. Interestingly, Farah had plans of making Happy New Year first. But when it temporarily got shelved, she signed Deepika for Om Shanti Om (2006). Though Kannada film Aishwarya’s reviews pointed out at Deepika’s poor performance in emotional scenes, Farah went ahead with her, even if it meant dubbing her voice.
Shantipriya was born, and rest as they say is history. Happy birthday, Deepika Padukone!
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