Indrajit Lankesh reveals how Deepika Padukone had everything needed to be a star

Did you know Om Shanti Om was not Deepika Padukone's debut film? She rather started her career with the 2006 Kannada film Aishwarya, a year before her big Bolly debut. In a recent podcast, filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh, who gave Deepika her first break in Aishwarya, recently revisited those early days and described how her debut and growing popularity soon drew the attention of King Khan. He also shared how Deepika had ticked all the right boxes when it comes to the factors needed for a superstar.

Filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh on casting Deepika Padukone

When casting for Aishwarya, Indrajit says that he saw in Deepika the qualities the pat demanded: Height, athletic presence, striking looks and wide appeal. He reached out soon after and met her in Mumbai, where she was accompanied by her manager, Pooja Dadlani, who was managing Deepika even before she came to the industry.

The released in 2006 and did well commercially in Karnataka, marking Deepika's screen debut. Lankesh believes that it was Aishwarya's success that helped take her visibility national and eventually reached Shah Rukh Khan, who at the time was looking for a new heroine to star opposite him. And the rest is history.

"In fact, Shah Rukh Khan had visited Bengaluru for an event after he siged Deepika for the film. When a journalist asked him about Aishwarya, Shah Rukh Khan, being witty and with his sense of humour, just said, 'I came to know it's a big hit. That means I'll have to pay her more.' I was there as a journalist. I was laughing," recalled the journalist-turned-filmmaker.

Within a year Deepika was cast opposite Shah Rukh in Farah Khan's blockbuster Om Shanti Om, a launch that is still highly remembered as one of Bollywood's most successful debuts, and went on to beome the highest grossing hindi film of the year.

What does Deepika padukone play in Aishwarya?

Aishwarya sees Upendra as Abhishek who falls in love with a struggling model, Anjali. Following her tragic death in an accident, his family faked her marriage to another person to spare him the mental trauma. Believing he was betrayed, he develops a deep hatred for women. Years later, Deepika's Aishwarya Pai joins his uncle's company, outmaneuvers Abhishek, and briefly gets him fired.

After Abhishek secures the job of assistant manager, they are sent on an assignment to Europe together. Away from the office, her vibrant and assertive nature softens him, and the two slowly fall in love. Just as Abhishek prepares to confess his feelings, he discovers Aishwarya's family has arranged her engagement to another man. Desperate to stop her forced marriage, he chases after her as she travels by boat. Aishwarya eventually jumps into the river to reunite with him, and the film ends with their marriage.

Mom-to-be for the second time, Deepika will next be seen in Raaka opposite Allu Arjun and the action film King, opposite her longtime collaborator, Shah Rukh Khan.

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