Deepika Padukone made her Hindi cinema debut with the Farah Khan-directed 2007 movie Om Shanti Om. She co-starred with Shah Rukh Khan within the romance fantasy movie. She spoke concerning the ‘insider-outsider’ debate on the WAVES 2025 Summit.
On the Waves Summit 2025, Bollywood star Deepika Padukone opened up concerning the insider-outsider dialog within the movie trade, reflecting on her journey from Bangalore to changing into one of the vital acknowledged faces in Indian cinema. Talking alongside Shah Rukh Khan and filmmaker Karan Johar, Deepika addressed the subject with honesty and private perception.
When the topic of nepotism got here up, she acknowledged how phrases like “insider” and “outsider” are extra generally mentioned at the moment than when she began out. Sharing her personal expertise, she stated, “These are phrases that we appear to be discussing now… insider or outsider… After I started, it was only a new world. I used to be a seventeen-year-old woman who got here from Bangalore.”
Deepika spoke about her debut within the Kannada movie Aishwarya and the way her Bollywood journey started unexpectedly. She revealed that Farah Khan had proven curiosity in casting her with out even conducting an audition. “Farah Khan confirmed curiosity in casting me in a film. I used to be transitioning between Bangalore and Mumbai. She didn’t even audition me. I bear in mind doing a gathering along with her as soon as, and she or he stated, ‘I need you to satisfy Shah Rukh as soon as.’ He was taking pictures for Chak De! in Australia at the moment. She stated we’d do a gathering as soon as he was again. That was it. For me, it simply occurred,” Deepika stated.
She additionally credited her modeling background for opening some doorways, however emphasised that it was her arduous work and fervour that actually helped her succeed. “After all, I used to be a mannequin earlier than that. That they had seen a few of my work. However I by no means felt that I used to be an outsider attempting to make my place in a brand new trade. I had the dedication, ardour, willpower, and arduous work. These had been the issues that had been in my management. These had been the issues that had utilized to what I used to be captivated with.”
Including his perspective to the talk, Shah Rukh Khan expressed that he didn’t imagine the insider-outsider label ought to carry a lot weight. He felt it was unimportant the place an individual comes from and that what actually issues is how one carves out their area within the trade.
Recalling his personal story, Shah Rukh talked about that he by no means allowed himself to really feel like an outsider and all the time believed the trade was his to be a part of. He additionally emphasised that being caught within the mindset of being an outsider can maintain one again, because the world is detached to at least one’s background — what issues most is effort and persistence.
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