Portrait · Verghese TK / CC BY-SA 4.0

Deepika Padukone

Actor, producer, entrepreneur and mental-health advocate

Born 1986

Deepika Padukone is an Indian actor, producer, entrepreneur and mental-health advocate whose career spans Kannada cinema, Hindi blockbusters and an English-language action franchise. Born in Copenhagen and raised in Bengaluru, she competed in badminton at national level before leaving the sport for modelling. After the Kannada film Aishwarya, her double role in Om Shanti Om made her a major Hindi-film star; Cocktail then marked a decisive critical turn. Her 2013 run—Race 2, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Chennai Express and Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela—was followed by Piku, Tamasha, Bajirao Mastani, xXx: Return of Xander Cage and Padmaavat. She founded Ka Productions, producing Chhapaak and ’83, built the self-care brand 82°E, and in 2015 founded LiveLoveLaugh after speaking publicly about her experience of anxiety and depression. Her later work includes Pathaan, Jawan, Fighter, Kalki 2898 AD and Singham Again. Sun Pictures has since cast her with Allu Arjun in Atlee’s upcoming Raaka. Cannes named her to its 2022 Feature Films jury; TIME included her in the 2018 TIME100 and gave her a TIME100 Impact Award in 2022. In 2025, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare appointed her its first Mental Health Ambassador, and in 2026 she fronted a new international Hilton campaign while LiveLoveLaugh expanded its rural mental-health work.

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ConnectionRanveer SinghHusband and co-star in Ram-Leela, Bajirao Mastani, Padmaavat and ’83.

ConnectionPrakash PadukoneFather and former badminton champion whose sporting discipline shaped her early life.

ConnectionAnisha PadukoneYounger sister and chief executive of LiveLoveLaugh.

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