"My South Indian accent was also frowned upon"
Deepika Padukone has revealed that her ‘South Indian accent’ was frowned upon in Bollywood and she initially thought that she would not get roles due to it.
In an interview, the actress spoke about her Bollywood journey.
Deepika made her Bollywood debut in Om Shanti Om and has gone on to become one of India’s highest-paid actresses.
Speaking to Vogue India, Deepika explained that she will accept any praise that comes her way for bringing a change in mainstream Hindi cinema.
She said: “I do see the obvious disparity between men and women in almost any aspect of life, but never in my journey have I felt the need to compare.
“And I think it’s to do with the fact that my sister and I weren’t brought up like that.
“We weren’t constantly reminded of the fact that we were girls, and so we had to go into the world thinking differently and fighting for what we deserved.
“But I did have to tackle other challenges. Coming from a sports background meant I did not have a natural inroad into Bollywood.
“My South Indian accent was also frowned upon and I initially worried about being written off because of it.”
On driving change in the Hindi film industry, Deepika added:
“If any praise for that change, no matter how big or small, comes my way, I will take it.
“It’s definitely a lot to digest, but at the same time, I won’t say it’s untrue because my purpose has always been that.
“As an outsider to the industry, I inadvertently ended up becoming an observer, which I believe has enabled me to change the status quo.
“Earlier, I probably didn’t have the confidence or the clout to be able to effect change, but the desire for it was always there.
“Even as a child, I was always curious about why things were done a certain way.
“I would never take anything lying down or be satisfied with things being handed to me on a platter.”
Meanwhile, her husband Ranveer Singh revealed that he has been discussing baby names with her.
He said: “I’m fascinated by unique names, every name phonetically has a different quality.
“Some are powerful names, some are cute names, and some are short names.”
Ranveer went on to explain why he will not reveal them.
“I’m very secretive about it because I don’t want people to steal them. I don’t want them to get common.
“I do have a list but I’m playing that card very close to me. But, I’m discussing them with Deepika.”
On the work front, Deepika Padukone has numerous upcoming projects including Pathaan and Fighter.
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