A lot was said about me and the truth is, it was extremely hurtful: Deepika Padukone

Actor opens up about being made fun of and the art of making it big in Bollywood

Deepika Padukone has made it big - there's no doubt about that. But while many – including the diva herself - would call her 2007 debut in Bollywood an ideal one (who wouldn't want to work opposite SRK in their first film?) her journey hasn’t been without its hurdles. The actor, in a recent essay she wrote for India Today, has opened up on the challenges she faced during this time.

"As I reflect upon my personal and professional evolution, the distinctions between the girl I was growing up and the person I am today, the journey from then to now has been one of immense growth and learning," Padukone begins. "I was acutely under-confident and socially awkward. I still am. Growing up, I wasn’t exactly academically-inclined. My interests lay in activities outside of the traditional classroom. By my teens, I was also a professional badminton player. Fortunately for me, my parents never pressured me to achieve certain academic benchmarks."

The Tamasha star goes on to add how her parents always encouraged her and her sister to follow their hearts. "So when I decided to move to Mumbai to pursue a career in modelling and acting, my parents showed faith in me and supported my decision wholeheartedly. This was significant because nobody in our entire familial or social periphery had any experience whatsoever in show business," Padukone reveals.

At the risk of sounding cliched, the Padmaavat star then reveals she indeed did "arrive in Mumbai with just one suitcase and dreams in my eyes." She writes, "After hustling and grinding through the modelling world for some years, I finally got my big break in films. I landed Om Shanti Om at the age of 19 and was immediately thrown into the deep end. My very first film was a big-ticket, marquee project with the biggest names in the business - A debut one could only dream of! There was excitement and pressure at the same time, all of it was hugely daunting.”

Padukone goes on to admit she was “extremely raw and unaware” of everything but SRK and director Farah Khan held her hand throughout. While the rom-com became a massive hit, the newbie starlet did receive her fair share of criticism as well, especially over her accent.

"In 2007, when the film finally released, there was love and appreciation in abundance but there was also a section of people who scathingly criticised my work. ‘Oh she is a model, she cannot act.’ My accent was made fun of. A lot was said and written about me and my craft and, the truth is, all of it was extremely hurtful," she remarks. "When you are all of 21, these kinds of brickbats most certainly affect you. But fortunately for me, my foundation provided me succor me in the face of criticism and failure."

For Padukone, the backlash was a much-needed push to do better. "Criticism fuels me," she says. "It fuels me to work harder, to improve my skills and evolve the various aspects of my craft. More importantly, it fuels my personal evolution. Failure, too, has taught me a lot. I have often been put down. I have even been written off. But I have never been bitter about these experiences. In fact, I am grateful."

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