Farah Khan reveals the intense preparation she made Deepika Padukone go through for Om Shanti Om

Everyone remembers Bollywood star Deepika Padukone's Bollywood debut of dreams. She made her grand entrance into the industry with Farah Khan directed Om Shanti Om (2007) alongside none other than Shah Rukh Khan.

Now a popular vlogger, Farah recently shared how she had prepared Deepika for her role in the film in her latest cooking vlog episode where she visited Dia Mirza's house along with her cook, Dilip.

Here's how Farah Khan prepped Deepika Padukone for her debut movie

Deepika Padukone played dual roles (Shanti Priya and Sandy) in her debut movie, Om Shanti Om, which was directed by Farah Khan. The director revealed that the actress did not attend any workshops or dance lessons ahead of her big debut.

Deepika was made to do something harder. She had to work for 27-28 hours at a stretch. Talking about how she helped Deepika prepare for her first role, Farah Khan said, "Deepika, how much care I took of you. First of all, I made her go to Anupam Kher's acting classes for three to four months. Post that, I had her enrolled in Kathak classes. We did so many look tests."

She added, "I even started her shoot 10 days later". Farah wanted her to come and observe how Shah Rukh Khan and others were working for the first 10 days.

Hard work leads to success

Om Shanti Om was a turning point in Deepika Padukone's career. The film did extremely well in the box office and became a major commercial success that continues to be a cult classic that movie lovers often go back to. From the music to the characters, everything from the film is still remembered and celebrated even almost 20 years later.

The film also gave Bollywood one of its beloved pairings in Deepika and Shah Rukh. The on-screen duo, despite the age gap, went on to successfully work in several films including Chennai Express, Happy New Year, Pathaan and Jawan.

The pair is again preparing to return on-screen with their sixth film together, King set to release on December 24, 2026. The movie is being directed by Siddharth Anand and will also star Abhishek Bachchan, Jaideep Ahlawat, Raghav Juyal, Arshad Warsi and Shah Rukh's daughter, Suhana Khan.

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