Deepika Padukone on being an outsider: `Nepotism will continue to exist`

Actress Deepika Padukone one of the highest paid actresses in India. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018 and awarded her the Time100 Impact Award in the year 2022.

Recently, in an interview with Vogue, the actress shared insights into her struggles and early days.

In an interview process, she shared  about what it felt like to be a non-nepotism actress trying to get space in an industry mostly dominated by film families. “I had no choice,” Deepika said.

She further added, “When you were an outsider 15 or 20 years ago, there was no other option. It’s an uphill task for any individual trying to make a mark in a field or profession that their parents don’t come from. The fact that we’ve started to articulate things like nepotism is a new trend. It existed then, it exists now and it will continue to exist. That was my reality.”

Later, while talking about her struggles Deepika shared, “Back then, I had so many things to deal with, not just professionally but also personally. I was a teenager moving to a new city with no family or friends in a new industry. I had to figure out my meals (a time before Swiggy or Zomato, mind you) and transport, and lug my own bags around. I never thought of it as a burden back then. I’d finish late at night, exhausted, then carry my suitcase across town in a cab and sometimes fall asleep on the drive back home. My mother would be so worried about whether I would get home safe. Today when I look back at that journey, I think, ‘Not bad, girl! You did this and you did it on your own.’ But at that moment, there was no time to reflect.”

On the work front, the actress was recently seen in a cameo appearance in SRK-starrer `Pathan.` Deepika has quite interesting projects in her bag, including the Hrithik Roshan-starrer `Fighter` and Rohit Shetty’s cop drama `Singham Again.` Moreover, she is all ready to act in the science fiction movie `Kalki 2898 AD,` alongside bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, and Prabhas in main roles.