Deepika Padukone (Kannada: ದೀಪಿಕಾ ಪಡುಕೋಣೆ; born January 5, 1986) is an Indian supermodel turned actress who appears in Bollywood movies.

Modeling

While in college, Padukone pursued a career in modeling.^[7] Over the years, she has modeled for such Indian brand names such as Liril, Dabur Lal powder, Close-Up toothpaste and Limca, and "brand ambassador" for the Jewels of India retail jewelery show.^{[citation needed]} The cosmetics company Maybelline made her its international spokesperson.^{[citation needed]}

At the fifth annual Kingfisher Fashion Awards she was awarded the title "Model of the Year".^{[citation needed]} Shortly afterward, she was chosen as one of the models for the Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar for 2006 and won two trophies at the Idea Zee Fashion Awards: "Female Model of the Year - (Commercial Assignments)" and "Fresh Face of the Year".^{[citation needed]} Padukone was also chosen as the brand ambassador of Kingfisher Airlines and later Levi Strauss and Tissot SA.^[8]

[edit] Acting

After pursuing a successful career in modeling, Padukone branched out into acting. She started by starring in the music video for the song Naam Hai Tera from the independent pop album Aap Kaa Surroor by Himesh Reshammiya.

In 2006, Padukone made her cinematic debut in the Kannada film Aishwarya starring opposite actor Upendra. She later made a successful Bollywood debut in 2007 with Farah Khan's international hit Om Shanti Om opposite Shahrukh Khan.^[9][10] The film featured her portraying 1970s star Shantipriya and later as Sandhya, a young woman who looks exactly like Shantipriya. Her performance was well received, earning the actress a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award as well as her first Filmfare Best Actress nomination. Taran Adarsh from indiaFM noted, "Deepika has all it takes to be a top star — the personality, the looks and yes, she's supremely talented too. Standing in the same frame as SRK and getting it right is no small achievement. She comes as a whiff of fresh air!"^[11]

Padukone next appeared in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008) opposite Ranbir Kapoor and then the Warner Bros.-Bollywood collaboration, Chandni Chowk To China, which released on January 16, 2009. As of January 2009, she is working on Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal opposite Saif Ali Khan.