Deepika Padukone recalled her Bollywood journey and how her ‘South Indian accent’ was frowned upon. She revealed that initially, she thought she might get written off due to it.
Deepika on her upbringing
Bollywood queen Deepika Padukone has spoken about her upbringing and her journey in the Hindi film industry. The actor said that since she was an outsider to the industry, she became an observer which helped her to ‘change the status quo’.
In an interview with Vogue India, Deepika said, “I do see the obvious disparity between men and women in almost any aspect of life, but never in my journey have I felt the need to compare. And I think it’s to do with the fact that my sister and I weren’t brought up like that. We weren’t constantly reminded of the fact that we were girls, and so we had to go into the world thinking differently and fighting for what we deserved.”
“But I did have to tackle other challenges. Coming from a sports background meant I did not have a natural inroad into Bollywood. My South Indian accent was also frowned upon and I initially worried about being written off because of it,” she said.
A change
Speaking about bringing changes, she said, “If any praise for that change, no matter how big or small, comes my way, I will take it. It’s definitely a lot to digest, but at the same time, I won’t say it’s wrong because my purpose has always been that. As an outsider to the industry, I inadvertently ended up becoming an observer, which I believe has enabled me to change the status quo.”
“Earlier, I probably didn’t have the confidence or the clout to be able to effect change, but the desire for it was always there. Even as a child, I was always curious about why things were done a certain way. I would never take anything lying down or be satisfied with things being handed to me on a platter,” she adds.
On the work front, Deepika has an exciting lineup with films like Fighter, Project K, The Intern remake and Pathaan.
