Deepika Padukone made her big Bollywood debut with Om Shanti Om. She was launched with a lot of pomp and show and it was the perfect platform for her. Farah Khan couldn’t have picked anyone better to play the classic Shanti and made sure Deepika looked nothing but incredible in each frame of the film. This catapulted her into fame, and of course, debuting with Shah Rukh Khan would be any girl’s dream. She has since then come a long, long way. Want proof? Check out this photo of Deepika from her modelling days, twelve years ago.
Farah Khan paid special attention to Deepika when she noticed her in Himesh Reshammiya‘s music video Naam Hai Tera Tera. Let’s refresh your memory a little.
How damn hot is she looking in the song? Anyway, much before Farah saw her in the song, there was somebody else who told her about Deepika. Guess who that was? Malaika Arora Khan!
Yup. She met her at Wendell Rodrick‘s show at Lakme Fashion Week many years ago and put in a word. Wendell spoke about this with Elle Magazine.
I showed a collection called Isadora at Lakmé Fashion Week. It was a game changer for Deepika. Director Farah Khan asked my friend Malaika to suggest a new model to star opposite Shah Rukh Khan for her new film. Om Shanti Om did not have a working title at the time. I suggested Deepika who was barely two years into modelling. I made her open the show and told Malaika that the first girl I was sending out was the one I recommend. Malaika liked her, conveyed the same to Farah and a screen test was done. The rest is history.
The rest is indeed history, isn’t it? 🙂