Deepika Padukone epitomizes the modern Indian woman

Most commercial Indian films are usually centered on men, with women just acting in supporting roles. This is slowly changing. With women like Vidya Balan, Konkona Sen, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone, one can see that women in Bollywood today are giving men serious competition. Deepika Padukone is one of them.

The 29-year old actress was born in a family where her father, Prakash Padukone and her grandfather, Ramesh Padukone, were both badminton champions; Padukone was the first in her family to choose this path in life. When she was in the tenth grade, she realised that she wanted to pursue a career in modeling. Soon, the actress, started her journey as a model and within a span of a few years, she has become one of the leading actresses in the Indian film industry.

Apart from her great performance in films like Ram-Leela, Cocktail, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, amongst others, Deepika has been extremely vocal about women’s rights. In an interview with Rajeev Masand, she fearlessly talked about the wage-gap in Bollywood- something no commercial Hindi film actress talks about. Her popular tiff with the Times of India too proved that Padukone doesn’t shy away from standing up for what she believes is right.

Deepika Padukone

Picture By: India TV

Dheeraj Sinha’s Consumer India: Inside the Indian mind and wallet, quotes Deepika saying,  "New feminism isn't about being aggressive; it's about reaching the top yet being soft. It's about being you — feminine, strong and full of will power.”  Journalist Vir Sanghvi too, described Padukone as "strong, someone who makes up her own mind, has motivation within herself," in an interview.

The actress is currently working on an initiative that will help create awareness on issues regarding mental health. She tweeted about these plans and according to India.com, also said, “I am committed to the cause, and we have been working towards this for some time now. I will work on it this whole year.” This isn’t the only good case Padukone has been working on. She has been involved in working for different social causes and also adopted a village in Maharashtra.

India.com>