Deepika Padukone on being a badminton player during school days: ‘That was my life, no late nights, no TV, no movies’

Deepika Padukone recently opened up about the special treatment she received in her school for being the daughter of badminton legend Prakash Padukone and also about following him in the field of sports. The actor featured in Nat Geo’s Mega Icons which revolved around the story of her life from being a badminton player in her school days to a Bollywood star, who went on to make her Hollywood debut opposite Vin Diesel.

Sharing some happy memories from her school days, Deepika revealed how her teachers would say, “We would have punished you but we are big fans of your father.”

Deepika, however, gave all her time to badminton during her growing up years with no place for entertainment and fun. She shared her daily routine from dawn to dusk as a teenager. “The routine was to wake up every morning like 4-5am, go for physical conditioning, go back home, go to school. As soon as I would finish school, there was no time to chitchat with friends so I would get home, change, have a snack, go to the badminton court, have dinner, be exhausted by that point and go to sleep and then the same thing again.

She added, “That was my life: No late nights, no TV, no movies. Sport teaches you sacrifice, discipline, dedication and determination.”

But the actor left all when she travelled to Copenhagen all by herself at 16. “When I came back, that was it.” She went on to pursue modelling and reached Mumbai with a suitcase at 17. Prakash Padukone also said on the show, “Badminton was her second love, not first love.”

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Deepika made her Bollywood debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan with 2007 film, Om Shanti Om. She has featured in several blockbusters since then, including three with her now husband Ranveer Singh. She went on to make her Hollywood debut with Vin Diesel’s xXx: Return of Xander Cage in 2017. She will now be seen as Romi Dev, wife of Kapil Dev (played by Ranveer) in Kabir Khan’s 83.

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