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Deepika Padukone (pronounced [d[i:pIka: p@d.Uko:n.]; born 5January 1986) is an Indian film actress and model. She has establisheda successful career in Bollywood films, and is cited in the mediaas one of the most popular and attractive Indian celebrities.
Padukone, the daughter of the badminton player Prakash Padukone,was born in Copenhagen and raised in Bangalore. As a teenagershe played badminton in national level championships, but left hercareer in sport to become a fashion model. She soon received offersfor film roles, and made her acting debut in 2006 as the titularcharacter of the Kannada film Aishwarya. Padukone then playeddual roles in her first Bollywood release--the 2007 blockbusterOm Shanti Om--and won a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
Padukone received praise for portraying the lead female roles in the2009 romance Love Aaj Kal and the 2010 drama LafangeyParindey, but her performances in the 2008 romantic comedy BachnaAe Haseeno and the 2010 comedy Housefull met with negativereviews. She followed it with roles in a series of commerciallyunsuccessful films that failed to propel her career forward. The 2012box office hit Cocktail marked a significant turning point in hercareer, earning her critical acclaim and Best Actress nominations atseveral award ceremonies. In 2013, Padukone established herself as aleading actress of Hindi cinema by playing primary roles in thecomedies Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Chennai Express (both ofwhich rank among the highest-grossing Bollywood films of alltime), and won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for herperformance in the tragic romance Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela.
