Variety: Deepika Padukone: International Star You Should Know

Shalini Dore

CLAIM TO FAME
Padukone plays a woman with a past who needs to be saved by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan " and also does some saving herself " in 2013's "Chennai Express," which has so far grossed $65 million worldwide. (Her most recent film, "Goliyon ki Raasleela Ram-Leela," which opened Nov. 15, has grossed $25 million worldwide.)

SEE MORE: From the December 10, 2013 issue of Variety

RETURN OF SERVE
Padukone was born in Copenhagen and grew up in Bangalore, the daughter of Indian badminton champ Prakash Padukone. Though always athletic, Deepika opted for something else when it came time to choose a career. "I had modeled as a child and was drawn to movies (and) beauty pageants," she says. "I enjoyed being in front of a camera."

NO PLACE LIKE "OM"
Debuting in a regional film, her big break came opposite Khan in 2007's "Om Shanti Om." Since then, Padukone, 27, has been in several Hindi films, been a spokesmodel for various products and written columns for Indian papers. Her romances have been tabloid fodder.

JUGGLING ACT
Just as she did last year, Padukone is working on three films simultaneously: "Happy New Year," helmed by Farah Khan; the English-language "Finding Fanny Fernandes"; and an untitled film with helmer Imtiaz Ali and star Ranbir Kapoor. "You can have overlap," she says. "Once I'm dressed, I'm in that character."

HOLLY-WOODY BENT
The actress, repped by CAA Kwan in India, says she would love to work in Hollywood. "I'm a Woody Allen fan," she reveals. "That's the kind of cinema I would like to do. Simple love stories or drama; that's what I'm drawn to even in Hindi cinema."