Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone (Kannada, born January 5, 1986) is an Indian model turned actress who appears in Bollywood movies. Padukone was born to Ujjala and Prakash Padukone on January 5, 1986 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her family moved to Bangalore when she was only eleven months old. Her father Prakash Padukone is a badminton player of international repute, while her mother is a travel agent. Her mother tongue is Kannada. She also has a younger sister named Anisha and is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer.

While pursuing her studies in college, she decided to pursue a career in modelling due to her tall slender figure. Over the years, she has modeled for famous Indian brand names like Liril, Dabur Lal powder, Close-Up toothpaste and Limca. She received many prestigious modeling offers, which included her becoming the brand ambassadorship of the Jewels of India. Padukone hit the international scene when Maybelline made her their new international cover-girl face.

At the 5th annual Kingfisher Fashion Awards, she was awarded the title of Model of the Year and Playboy Magazine Cover Winner. Shortly afterwards, 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, later that year. Padukone was also chosen as the brand ambassador of Kingfisher Airlines and most recently Levi Strauss and Tissot SA.