Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone (konkani:दीपिका पादुकोने/ದೀಪಿಕಾ ಪಡುಕೋಣೆ); born January 5, 1986) is an Indian model turned actress who appears in Bollywood movies.
Early life and background:
Padukone was born Copenhagen, Denmark. Her family moved to Bangalore, India, when she was eleven months old. Padukone is of Mangalorean origin, and her mother tongue is Konkani. She is a Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin, and her lineage hails from Padukone village in Kundapura Taluk in the Udupi District of the state of Karnataka, India. Her father, Prakash Padukone, is a retired badminton player of international repute, and her mother is a travel agent. Padukone also has a younger sister, Anisha, born in 1991.

Padukone attended Sophia High School in Bangalore. She completed her pre-university studies at Mount Carmel College in Bangalore, India. While in high school she played badminton at the state level. However, she was not keen on pursuing a career as a badminton player and abandoned it to concentrate on her ICSE exams.

Career
Modeling:
While in college, Padukone pursued a career in modeling. She was spotted in a ramp competition in NLS, Bangalore. Over the years, she has modeled for such Indian brand names as Liril, Dabur Lal powder, Close-Up toothpaste and Limca, and has been "brand ambassador" for the Jewels of India retail jewelery show. The cosmetics company Maybelline made her its international spokesperson.

At the fifth annual Kingfisher Fashion Awards she was awarded the title "Model of the Year". 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". Padukone was also chosen as the brand ambassador of Kingfisher Airlines and later Levi Strauss and Tissot SA.

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. The film featured her portraying 1970s star Shantipriya and later as Sandhya aka Sandy, 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!"

Padukone next appeared in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008) opposite Ranbir Kapoor and then the Warner Bros.-Rohan Sippy collaboration, Chandni Chowk to China, released on January 16, 2009. She recently starred in Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal (2009) opposite Saif Ali Khan.
Writing:
In 2009, Deepika started writing weekly columns for HT City, the lifestyle supplement of Hindustan Times. These columns appear online on social network, Desimartini

Awards and nominations
Filmfare Awards:
Winner
2008: Filmfare Best Female Debut Award; Om Shanti Om
2008: Sony Head N Shoulders Fresh Face of the Year Award; Om Shanti Om

'''Nominated'''
2008: Filmfare Best Actress Award; Om Shanti Om

Star Screen Awards:
Winner
2008: Star Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female; Om Shanti Om
2008: Star Screen Award Jodi No. 1 along with Shahrukh Khan; Om Shanti Om

Zee Cine Awards:
Winner
2008: Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut; Om Shanti Om

Nominated
2008: Zee Cine Award for Best Actor - Female; Om Shanti Om

IIFA Awards:
Winner
2008: IIFA Awards' Best Debutant (Female); Om Shanti Om

Nominated
2008: IIFA Best Actress Award; Om Shanti Om

Stardust Awards:
Nominated
2008: Stardust Superstar of Tomorrow - Female; Om Shanti Om

Apsara Film and Television Producers Guild Awards
Winner
2008: Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards' Best Female Debut; Om Shanti Om

Asian Film Awards:
Nominated
2008: Asian Film Awards' Best Actress; Om Shanti Om
2009: Asian Film Awards' Best Actress; Chandni Chowk to China

Other Awards:
2007: Star's Sabsey Favourite, Sabsey Favourite Nayi Heroine; Om Shanti Om
2007: HT Café Film Awards, Best Newcomer Award (Female); Om Shanti Om
2008: Reebok Zoom Glam Awards, Glam Debutant (Female); Om Shanti Om
2008: Annual Central European Bollywood Awards, Breakthrough Role (Female); Om Shanti Om