The doe-eyed Shantipriya and Sandy in Farah Khan’s 2007 hit Om Shanti Om might have made Deepika Padukone a household name, but that wasn’t her debut. The actor, whose mother tongue is Konkani, debuted in the film industry with a comparatively lesser-known Kannada film. Starring one of Sandalwood’s superstars, Upendra, it was a commercial success at the box office.
Indrajit Lankesh was the director who introduced Deepika to the film industry with his 2006 hit Aishwarya, an official remake of Nagarjuna’s Telugu hit Manmadhudu (2002), with portions inspired by Suriya’s Tamil hit Ghajini (2005). The director also spoke about the actor’s 8-hour working day mandate, stating that he ‘entirely agrees’ with her. Indrajit played badminton with Deepika before he became a director and she became an actor. The actor’s father is badminton pro Prakash Padukone, and she played the sport as a teenager in championships. Later, I became a director, and she became an actor. When I was already four films old as a director, I wanted to sign her. She was a model at that time, and the day I met her to narrate Aishwarya, I knew she was a star in the making,” he recalled. “I saw the focus, hunger, ambition and discipline in her. Indrajit also claimed that when actors shoot beyond eight hours, it shows on camera.
The director recently told TOI, “I was actually playing badminton with Deepika back when she was playing for the state. Indrajit says he was so impressed by her focus and professionalism even before she faced the camera that he knew she was destined to go global. I actually told her while shooting that I didn’t think she would be limited to Kannada or Bollywood; I felt she had what it takes to become a global star,” he said.
Motherhood and career
Deepika now has Siddharth’s King with Shah Rukh Khan lined up, as well as Atlee’s Telugu film Raaka with Allu Arjun. Inradjit now has a Hindi film titled Jai Hind Jai Sindh: A Love Story lined up.
