'Not bad, girl! You did this and you did it on your own': Deepika Padukone is proud of building her career off her own back
Deepika Padukone says it was an "uphill task" building her acting career from scratch.
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Deepika Padukone is proud of becoming a huge star off her own back.
The 37-year-old actress is one of the highest-paid actresses in India but had to grind her way to the top as she didn't have famous actor parents to give her a leg up in the industry.
She told Vogue India: “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.”
She continued: “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."