Smashing Goals: Deepika Padukone's badminton dream delivers big; details inside

Deepika Padukone has long held her ground as one of India's most bankable talents, making waves not just in Bollywood but also on international red carpets, luxury brand boards, and blockbuster charts. But now, the actress has turned her attention to something much closer to home, quite literally by venturing into the world of badminton, a sport that shaped her early years.

Teaming up with her father, Prakash Padukone, India's first All-England Champion and a legend in the sport, Deepika has quietly been building something massive behind the scenes. The duo's initiative, the Padukone School of Badminton (PSB), is not just a passion project. It has swiftly evolved into one of the country's most ambitious grassroots movements in sports education.

In just a year, PSB has launched over 75 coaching centres across 18 cities in India, including metros and tier-2 hubs like Panipat, Udaipur and Sangli. With the tagline "Badminton for All," the school is on a mission to not only train the next generation of shuttlers but also instil a culture of sport and fitness at scale. Plans are already in motion to hit 100 centres by the year-end and ramp up to 250 in the next three years.

Deepika has often spoken about how the court shaped her mental toughness and discipline values she now wants to pass on. Her father, who mentors the initiative, believes this project can bring structured training to corners of the country that rarely see professional-level sports infrastructure. It's not just about medals; it's about mindset, he says.

Meanwhile, Deepika's professional calendar continues to be explosive. After walking out of Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Spirit, reportedly over concerns surrounding working conditions, she didn't waste a beat before locking her next big move. She is now headlining Atlee's untitled action entertainer alongside Allu Arjun, where she's set to play a fierce warrior queen. She also has Kalki 2 and King in the pipeline, both highly anticipated projects that solidify her status as a force to reckon with.