Deepika Padukone knew she wanted to act at 16; borrowed Rs10,000 from mother for portfolio shoot

Dubai: Bollywood star Deepika Padukone once borrowed Rs10,000 from her mother to pursue her dream of becoming an actress, promising that she would repay the money one day and make her parents proud.

The actress recalled the emotional moment during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she was promoting her Hollywood debut, xXx: Return of Xander Cage.

With Deepika approaching two decades in the film industry, the interview offers a glimpse into the early determination that helped shape her journey from aspiring model to one of Hindi cinema's leading stars.

Deepika, who made her Bollywood debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Om Shanti Om in 2007, also spoke about growing up in a family where sporting excellence was already part of its legacy.

Her father, former badminton champion Prakash Padukone, made his mark in a country where pursuing professional sport was not always considered a conventional career choice.

"He played at a time in India when nobody really played professional badminton… everybody wanted to become a doctor or a lawyer, but he was a sportsperson," she told Ellen.

Asked whether she had ever considered following in her father's footsteps and taking up badminton professionally, Deepika said she could have made him happy. However, she recalled that he had always encouraged her to follow her heart.

For Deepika, that meant acting. She said she knew by the age of 16 that she wanted to become an actress and that being in front of the camera made her extremely happy.

She also recalled approaching her mother to borrow Rs10,000 to finance a portfolio shoot, an important early step towards pursuing her ambitions.

"I sat my mother down one day and said, 'Can I please borrow Rs10,000 from you? I needed money to shoot a portfolio.' I told them one day I'd make them proud, and someday I'd repay them," she said.

Nearly 20 years after her Bollywood debut, Deepika has established herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses, with films including Chennai Express, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Piku, Bajirao Mastani, Padmaavat, Pathaan and Jawan among her credits.

She was also part of the 2024 science-fiction film Kalki 2898 AD.

Deepika is now gearing up for another major screen appearance alongside Shah Rukh Khan in the much-anticipated film King.