Bigg Boss 19: Daily Discussion Thread- 20th Oct 2025
SECRET OUTT 20.10
DO PHOOL DO MALA 21.10
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai - 20 Oct 2025 EDT
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai Oct. 21, 2025 Episode Discussion Thread
Anupamaa 20 Oct 2025 Written Update & Daily Discussions Thread
Book Talk Reading Challenge & Book Bingo, November '25 || Sign-up OPEN
Should Sidharth Malhotra just quit acting?
Indian tv Blockbuster ! Parvati & Tulsi : The OG Bahus Mahasangam Epi
Ibrahim Ali Khan Admits Nadaaniyan Was A Bad Film
Diwali Dhamaka: Why does Vicky look so much like Nawazuddin Siddiqui?
Veteran Actor Asrani Passes Away
13 years Student of the year
Mihir is a loser
Malti hinted at Baseer being gay!
🏏IPL 2026 Schedule: Time Table, Teams, Match List, Fixtures🏏
AARTI KAPUR SINGH
When I first met Deepika Padukone, nearly a decade ago, she was preparing to launch Maybelline in India, and herself. This was pre-Om Shanti Om. Perhaps around the time when Farah Khan had already made up her mind to cast her in Happy New Year (yes, it was to be made ten years ago). She was a strange mix of hesitation and yet confidence - perhaps an indication of her silent determination to make a mark for herself in a world hitherto unknown. Fast forward to 2016 when she confidently walked up the stage at IIFA 2016 to collect her Best Actress award for Piku. From the hesitant newcomer, Deepika was confident enough to say this about her double nomination for Bajirao Mastani as well as Piku and final award: "I hope I don't sound pompous, but I liked both Piku and Bajirao Mastani enough to get me excited about the awards season. I am happy I won for Piku, I hope it could be for being Mastani as well. I wish I could have the power to not have both the films release in the same year!"
Deepika has gained oodles of confidence since I first met her, but is the same girl with a dazzling and dimpled smile who is the first to extend her hand out in a warm handshake (but only if she likes you).
This last year has been incredibly eventful for the daughter of Prakash Padukone, and it is not over yet. While in Piku it will not be an exaggeration to say that she managed to stand her ground in front of Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan Khan, glowed in Tamasha (box office verdict on the film notwithstanding) and set the screen ablaze in Bajirao Mastani. And as she sits down to look back at her journey, here is what Deepika Padukone has to say, "Hard work is the key to a lot of things, but it's also important to be passionate or rather do what you're passionate about. And most importantly, enjoy yourself along the way. This has been the biggest learning. I've had fun through all the work that I've done and all the amazing people I've worked with and I've had a really good time."
As a testimony to the wave she continues to ride, Deepika Padukone has been jet-setting around the globe thanks to her professional and personal commitments and it's amazing how much she manages to do! Deepika flew to Toronto to shoot for her first Hollywood film, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, in February this year. Deepika essays the role of Serena Unger, Vin Diesel's love interest in the film. Director DJ Caruso, who has previously made Disturbia (2007) and I Am Number Four (2011), is heading the project. After wrapping up xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, she went to Budapest shooting for her item number in Raabta, starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon.
So what was it like to work with THE Vin Diesel? "He is a friend. And someone I am extremely fond of. This is because he is an amazing person. It is very important for me to be comfortable in the environment I am working with. He made a new environment seem so gregarious. It was amazing to work with him and beyond that, about the film, I am afraid I cannot disclose anything else right now," is all Deepika says, teasingly.
Vin Diesel is amazing, he made a new environment seem so gregarious. It was amazing to work with him
WHAT YOU PERHAPS DID NOT KNOW ABOUT DEEPIKA
The Taste of Success
It has been a long-ish journey from the ramp to Hollywood. Before she was launched opposite Shahrukh Khan, Denmark-born Deepika Padukone was the queen of the ramp. It may have been half a decade since then, but Deepika is on an upward spiral with films like Love Aaj Kal, Bachna Ae Haseenon, Cocktail and Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, to name a few. Once a Kingfisher calendar girl, Deepika has worked with almost all the leading men of tinsel town.
A national level badminton player, the to-be Mastani, was written off by critics before she achieved a feat unparalleled in Bollywood - a string of eight hits in a row. Last year when Arjun Kapoor took a dig at buddy and co-host Ranveer Singh (who is also Deepika's rumoured boyfriend), incidentally, again at the IIFA awards, saying, "Iske bina teri koi picture hit nahi hogi," he was probably right.
But it was not smooth sailing. Karthik Calling Karthik, Housefull, Lafangey Parindey, Break Ke Baad, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se are films difficult to recall possibly because they sank without a trace. Though critics could not fail to notice the effort that Deepika put in and seemed to become sharper after every performance. Gracious as she is, she is grateful that she was a part of failures too. "I agree I did not put so much emphasis on the scripts of some movies that I did in the past. I admit I made mistakes, but I am still proud of those films as they taught me something. I put in as much effort into them as any other film that did well. The films that did not do well were my learning experiences. I've learnt a lot along the way. But I do not come from a film family - I knew nothing about lights, camera and action and having travelled that path, I know I have learnt a lot along the way. Every film that I did has contributed to the person, the performer, if I can call myself that, today. I'm comfortable in front of the camera. I'm not scared of making mistakes," says the actress.
By Deepika's own admission, Homi Adjania's Cocktail (2012) proved to be a turning point in her career. "During the narration of the script, Dinesh (producer Dinesh Vijan) offered me the choice of which woman character I wanted to play. I picked Veronica, I admit, gingerly, to push myself as an actress. I wasn't so sure but it was my own challenge to myself," reveals Deepika, adding, "Cocktail was difficult - the wide spectrum of emotions I had to portray, from a wild child to someone who feels jealous enough to destroy herself." Cocktail fetched Padukone Best Actress nominations for many awards, including Filmfare, IIFA and Screen, besides being a box office hit as well.
Post Cocktail, she churned out hits such as Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Chennai Express and Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela. More recently, Deepika scrubbed off the greasepaint and yet managed to radiate in every frame that she appeared in as Piku. Talking about working on the film, she says, "It was a very normal father-daughter story. It's special in a different way, it wasn't dramatic or anything. The only direction I got from Shoojit was just be'. It challenged me from the point of view of an actor. The scenes touch you because it is only the relationship between the characters that make them alive. Piku is important because of that. And of course, the learning experience that was working with Mr Amitabh Bachchan. That, in itself, was a masterclass."
When she was conferred with a Woman of Worth award, Deepika was her most honest self and said, "I'm really fortunate to be in the movie business - something that I always wanted to do and something that I'm very passionate about, which is why even when I was written off, I took that as a challenge and healthy criticism and worked on my weaknesses. It's important that I've enjoyed the people I've worked with, and I've enjoyed all the various film experiences I've had."
Reiterating her commitment to playing women who refuse to be the reason for the heroes' heroism or the villains' villainy, Deepika played Mastani, a historic character from the fringes and did justice to the character. "Mastani came across as determined and yet sensitive and emotional. She had it in her to take on any challenge. She was not just a warrior, but a mother and a seductress. There was nothing she could not do. She was complete in every sense. In today's time, I believe there is a Mastani in every woman. Every woman has the qualities of being a friend, confidante, nurturer, and I am proud to portray her on screen."
The Queen of Hearts
Deepika has been in the news for her so-called liaisons as well. Labelled the Queen of Hearts' by supposed beau Ranveer Singh, Deepika recently told of a journalist at a press meet when asked about her Ranbir Kapoor tattoo. "Why does the nation want to know?!" was her repartee. But on a more mature and serious note, Deepika says, "We have moved on in our lives. We are in a space where we are comfortable working with each other. And yet I also know that this is not the last time I will be asked this question. So I would like to set the record straight and tell you what we shared was, is and will always be special. It cannot be explained - but that is the difference between a theory and life!"
The emotions that Ranveer Singh displayed are more than obvious? I asked Deepika about what she feels. "Ranveer is obviously very lively. He is exuberant and happy. I appreciate him for what he is. And as regards the equation, it is for just us to know and revel in. Whether anybody knows or wants to know is immaterial," she says.
Fast Forward
The heady Deepika flavour promises to linger for the better part of this year. This despite the fact that she hasn't signed any film so far. Ask her why and she is prompt to say, "I have reached a stage where I don't have to do work to keep myself busy. I don't want to do films just for the heck of making announcements. I don't need to do a film to keep my calendar busy. Last year I was shooting for Piku, Tamasha and Bajirao Mastani simultaneously and that was rather challenging. But I could not have left out even one of those scripts so I nosedived into them all, even though it is not the ideal way to work! So it will be a nice break to do one odd film at a time. I have read a lot of scripts, but I have not been excited about anything that I have read. I am okay with it." So typically Deepika!
So will there be a year's gap between Deepika's screen appearances? Apparently, Sriram Raghavan, known for his thrillers, has a few scripts in mind and post Badlapur, he has started working on the adaptation of Vikas Swarup's The Accidental Apprentice. He has already sounded the story off to Deepika, who confirms by saying, "I have been in talks with Sriram about that film. I have just been approached for it, but I haven't signed it yet." Although the story got her excited, she hasn't read the novel yet'. "Sriram is getting his script in place. He has not asked me to read the book. Once he finishes scripting, we will sit for a narration and then I will decide. I am starting my next Hindi film in September, but I cannot tell you anything else about it," she smiles, disarming with her dimples!
Aren't there strong rumours of doing that elusive YashRaj film - considering she refused Meera's role in Jab Tak Hai Jaan? Or the two films opposite Hrithik Roshan? Pry her harder and she disarms you by flashing those dimples and cheekily retorting, "That's for me to know and you to find out!"
So what we do know is that xXx: The Return of Xander Cage is scheduled to hit the screens on January 20, 2017. And another fly on the wall tells us that this is only the beginning of Deepika's Hollywood sojourn. She has left a lot of people charmed by her irresistible good looks and electrifying personality.
Looks That Are Not Just Physical
Deepika has always believed that physical beauty is ephemeral. "Beauty is not just about your face," she insists, while clarifying that she does make an effort to look like a million bucks. "A healthy lifestyle, nutritious diet and the correct skincare and fitness regimen all go hand in hand to make possible a beautiful you today and tomorrow. I believe in leading a very healthy lifestyle. I love my sleep and try catching up on it whenever I can. The first thing I do when I wake up is keep myself in a peaceful state of mind, with very little disturbance or sound nearby. I then do my yoga, pranayams and suryanamaskars and get ready for my day ahead. My physical regimen consists of a gamut of routines, be it playing badminton, swimming or skipping. I hate hitting the treadmill, I have to resort to that when I'm travelling on a shoot. It's always better to be out in the open air. I am a firm believer in skincare the natural way. I am careful about using skincare products that are the right mix of nature and science," says the dimpled beauty.
"One should never try to go overboard with any product, as I think the more you try to be experimental with your skin, the worse it gets. Just stick to the basics of skincare and witness the splendid results. There are a host of natural effective products available that are a better bet than harsh chemically enhanced ones," she adds.
Beyond Celluloid
Deepika has always been a spiffy dresser and style icon and has only just launched her private label, All About You. "A person can be creative in many ways and All About You is just me exploring the other side of my creativity. I want to encourage women to be comfortable with themselves, in the way they dress, and with their bodies," asserts Deepika, adding, "I want to share my own preferences when it comes to dressing up, my own personal style and what I like to wear in films and in life."
#deepveer
Cricket
