Deepika hasnt put studies on back-burner

Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone is pursuing BA course from IGNOU (AP Photo)

NEW DELHI: She has grabbed eyeballs with her performance in Om Shanti Om and is the latest Bollywood heart-throb.
But Deepika Padukone has not put academics on the back-burner and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts course at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

The 21-year-old rising star evidently has interest in socio-economic issues, as shown by her choice of subjects.

"Padukone is a student of BA course in IGNOU since 2005. She has opted for sociology as her major with economics as a subsidiary subject," Srikant Mohapatra, the varsity's Registrar told.

Padukone, who did her schooling from Bangalore, moved to Mumbai to pursue her career in modelling.

"She has appeared in five papers at the end of the first year in 2006. She has done well in the exams," Mohapatra said.
As part of her course, Padukone will appear in 13 papers with total marks of 1200.

The papers she would take in Sociology are: Study of Society, Society in India, Sociological Thought, Society and Stratification, Society and Religion and Social Problems in India.

Similarly, in Economics, which she has taken as a subsidiary subject, Padukone will study Fundamentals of Economics and Agricultural Development in India.

Apart from Sociology and Economics, Padukone has taken up Nutrition and Childcare as an application course.
She has been provided all the study material for the entire course spanning over three years.

The actress has obviously preferred to pursue studies in distance mode because of her busy schedule in her professional career.

"The distance mode gives you the flexibility to pursue education as per your convenience. You need not appear in any class nor do you need to clear the exam in one go," Mohapatra said.