Deepika Padukone: Biography of the Padmaavat and Piku Star

Born in Copenhagen, raised in Bangalore

Deepika Padukone was born on 5 Jan 1986 in Copenhagen, Denmark, where her father, the badminton champion Prakash Padukone, was then based. Her mother, Ujjala, worked as a travel agent. The family, Konkani speakers from Karnataka's coast, moved back to Bangalore when she was about a year old. Her younger sister, Anisha Padukone, is a professional golfer.

She studied at Sophia High School and did her pre-university course at Mount Carmel College. Badminton came first. She played the sport seriously and competed at national level, but in her teens she decided it wasn't the life she wanted. She later enrolled in a sociology degree through IGNOU but dropped out as her modelling career took off.

Modelling to Om Shanti Om

The designer Wendell Rodricks spotted her at a jewellery class he was teaching and signed her to the Matrix talent agency. She was named Model of the Year at the Kingfisher Fashion Awards, moved to Mumbai at 21, staying at an aunt's home, appeared in the Kingfisher Calendar in 2006, and was noticed in Himesh Reshammiya's music video Naam Hai Tera. Her film debut was in Kannada, in Indrajit Lankesh's romantic comedy Aishwarya (2006), opposite Upendra.

Her Hindi debut was a double role. In Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om (2007) she played Shantipriya, a 1970s film star, and Sandy, her lookalike, opposite Shah Rukh Khan. The film was one of the year's biggest hits and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

A shaky start, then the 2013 run

The next few years were mixed. Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), with Ranbir Kapoor, whom she was dating at the time, and Love Aaj Kal (2009) did well; Chandni Chowk to China (2009) and several others didn't, and critics were unconvinced by her acting. Cocktail (2012), in which she played the free-spirited Veronica, changed the conversation.

Then 2013 made her the biggest female star in Hindi cinema. Race 2, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (again with Ranbir), Chennai Express (with Shah Rukh) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela were all hits. Ram-Leela, opposite Ranveer Singh, won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

Piku, Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat

She followed it with some of her best-reviewed work. In 2014 she worked with Rajinikanth in the motion-capture film Kochadaiiyaan and appeared in Happy New Year and Finding Fanny. In Shoojit Sircar's Piku (2015) she played an architect looking after her difficult father, played by Amitabh Bachchan; it won her a second Filmfare Best Actress award. Tamasha (2015), with Ranbir, and Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani (2015), with Ranveer, followed.

In 2017 she made her Hollywood debut opposite Vin Diesel in xXx: Return of Xander Cage. Bhansali's Padmaavat (2018), in which she played Rani Padmavati, became one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of its time despite months of protests and threats against the cast before release.

Producer and the 83 years

In 2018 she set up her production company, Ka Productions. Its first film, Meghna Gulzar's Chhapaak (2020), starred her as Malti, an acid-attack survivor modelled on Laxmi Agarwal. In Kabir Khan's 83 (2021) she played Romi Dev, wife of Kapil Dev, opposite Ranveer as Kapil; she was also one of the film's producers. Gehraiyaan (2022), a relationship drama released on Amazon Prime Video, divided critics but was praised for her performance.

Pathaan, Kalki and Singham Again

Her commercial streak returned in 2023. Pathaan, with Shah Rukh, was the biggest Hindi hit of the year until Jawan, in which she made a special appearance. In 2024 she starred in Fighter with Hrithik Roshan, played Sumathi, the pregnant woman at the centre of Nag Ashwin's Kalki 2898 AD, and appeared as a police officer in Rohit Shetty's Singham Again.

In September 2025 the producers of Kalki 2898 AD, Vyjayanthi Movies, said she wouldn't be part of the sequel, saying a film like Kalki "deserves commitment". Reports linked the exit to her request for fixed, shorter working hours, a subject she later discussed openly in interviews about returning to work as a mother.

Marriage to Ranveer Singh

Deepika and Ranveer Singh met on Ram-Leela and dated for about six years. They married at Lake Como, Italy, on 14 and 15 Nov 2018, with a Konkani ceremony followed by a Sikh Anand Karaj. Their first daughter, Dua, was born on 8 Sep 2024.

Their second daughter was born on 19 Sep 2026. The couple announced her name, Devi Padukone Singh, on Dussehra, 20 Oct 2026, with a short note on social media.

Mental health advocacy

In 2015 she founded the Live Love Laugh Foundation, which runs awareness campaigns and supports community mental health programmes. In 2016 it launched More Than Just Sad, a programme to help general physicians recognise and treat depression and anxiety. The same year it partnered with Facebook and the suicide-prevention group AASRA on multilingual resources for people in distress. In 2018 the World Economic Forum gave her a Crystal Award for that work, and on 10 Oct 2025, World Mental Health Day, the Union Health Ministry named her India's first Mental Health Ambassador.

A global profile

Few Indian actors have built an international profile like hers. She walked the Met Gala red carpet in 2017, 2018 and 2019. In May 2022 Louis Vuitton named her its first Indian house ambassador, and the same month she sat on the main competition jury of the 75th Cannes Film Festival. Her Hollywood film, xXx, opened doors in the US, but she's chosen to keep her career centred on Indian cinema.

Depression and speaking out

Her advocacy began with her own story. In early 2014, at the height of her success, she was diagnosed with depression after weeks of anxiety and exhaustion, and she was treated by a psychiatrist with medication and counselling. Her mother was the first to notice something was wrong. When she spoke about it in a 2015 interview, it was one of the first times a major Bollywood star had talked publicly about mental illness, and the response persuaded her to set up a foundation.

Brands and business

She has been one of India's most sought-after brand ambassadors for years, and in 2022 she launched her own skincare brand, 82°E. She has also invested in start-ups through her family office. In 2022 she presented the FIFA World Cup trophy at the final in Qatar and was a presenter at the Oscars in 2023.

Awards and recognition

Deepika has won three Filmfare Awards: Best Female Debut for Om Shanti Om and Best Actress for Ram-Leela and Piku. TIME named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018 and gave her a TIME100 Impact Award in 2022. In 2025 she was named in the Hollywood Walk of Fame's Class of 2026, the first Indian actor chosen for a star; the date of her star ceremony hasn't been announced.

What's next

Her next release is Siddharth Anand's King, with Shah Rukh Khan and Suhana Khan, due in cinemas on 24 Dec 2026. She's also signed to a film with Allu Arjun directed by Atlee, which doesn't yet have a confirmed release date.

Legacy

Deepika Padukone's career is unusual for how many kinds of success it combines. She's had the biggest box-office run of any Hindi actress of her generation, worked in Hollywood, produced films, built a business and changed how Indian celebrities talk about mental health. Her early critics said she couldn't act; Piku and Padmaavat settled that. For an industry that has often treated marriage and motherhood as the end of a heroine's career, she's also become an example of the opposite: two daughters, a big December release and a Hollywood star still to be unveiled.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. The Indian Express: Deepika and Ranveer welcome second daughter, Sep 2026
2. IANS: Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone name their second daughter, 20 Oct 2026
3. The Hindu: Deepika Padukone out of Kalki 2898 AD sequel, Sep 2025
4. Hindustan Times: King to release on 24 December
5. India Today: Deepika named India's first Mental Health Ambassador, 10 Oct 2025
6. The Hindu: First Indian honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
7. India Today: Deepika becomes Louis Vuitton's first Indian ambassador, May 2022
8. Wikipedia: Deepika Padukone (cross-checked films and awards)

Facts checked against the sources above by Tulasiram Pemmadi on 10 Nov 2026 (IST). Where reliable sources disagree, the article says so. Spotted an error? See our corrections page or email contact@nextplayintel.com.

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