Deepika Padukone - Career - Initial Success, 2010-present

Initial Success, 2010-present

Her first release in 2010 was Excel Entertainment’s Karthik Calling Karthik. The thriller featured Farhan Akhtar as Karthik, a troubled schizophrenic man, and Padukone as his supportive girlfriend, Shonali Mukherjee. This time, Anupama Chopra wrote, "Padukone finally seems to be thawing in front of a camera." However, it was a commercial failure. She then featured in Sajid Khan's multistarrer Housefull with Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Lara Dutta, Arjun Rampal, Jiah Khan and Boman Irani. She played the role of Soundarya Bhagyalakshmi Venkateshwari Baassappa Rao, Kumar's girlfriend and later fiancée. The film became a blockbuster in India, with a net gross of INR 95 crores in the first week. As for her performance, Taran Adarsh mentioned that "Deepika is a surprise. She carries her part with amazing confidence...Housefull is the film that would make people notice her talent as well as beauty".

She then appeared in her second Yash Raj production, Lafangey Parindey which was directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She starred opposite Neil Nitin Mukesh as Pinky Palkar, a blind girl, hellbent on winning a skating competition. Upon release, Sudhish Kamath, of The Hindu wrote, "This really is Deepika Padukone's film though. She exercises considerable restraint, dances, skates, makes you cry and smile."

Her next release was Kunal Kohli's syrupy romance Break Ke Baad opposite Imran Khan, where she played Aaliya Khan, an impetuous brat. The film was not a commercial success but won Padukone favorable reviews. Nikhat Kazmi noted, "Padukone's climactic act seems to be the best performance in her entire career: completely spontaneous, crazy and cute."

Her final release of 2010; Ashutosh Gowarikar's Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey top-lining Abhishek Bachchan, met with scathing reviews and was declared a flop. The period drama was a retelling of the 1930 Chittagong armoury raid, with Bachchan playing the revolutionary leader Surya Sen and Padukone playing Kalpana Dutta, his lover and confidant. A review carried by The Hollywood Reporter, however, mentioned her portrayal of Dutta as "impressive".

She began the year 2011 with an item number in Rohan Sippy's Dum Maaro Dum starring Abhishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu. Her song was a remixed version of Zeenat Aman's iconic song from Hare Rama Hare Krishna. The raunchy lyrics and suggestive dancing received mixed reviews. The Deccan Chronicle mentioned her moves as "mechanised gyrations", while Adarsh wrote, "Deepika scorches the screen in the title track."

Next, she featured in Prakash Jha's reservation melodrama, Aarakshan starring alongside Amitabh Bachchan, as his daughter, and Saif Ali Khan, as his love-interest. Pratim D. Gupta noted, "Deepika, though, is again the refreshing thing about a movie. Both her scenes with Bachchan — one where she revolts and the other where she redeems herself — show how she has come of age as an actor." Padukone next appeared in Rohit Dhawan's Desi Boyz alongside Akshay Kumar, John Abraham and Chitrangada Singh. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was an average success at the box office.

In 2012, Padukone first appeared in Homi Adajania's Cocktail opposite Saif Ali Khan and Diana Penty. The film gyrated Padukone with accolades and praises. Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times wrote, "The big surprise here is Deepika, who moves beyond her usual statuesque mannequin pose and gets into the skin of the emotionally raw and needy poor little rich girl. This is easily her best performance to date." Devesh Sharma of Filmfare said, "Deepika looks ravishing and is one actress who can carry off a bikini. She’s the soul of the film and excels in every scene, whether as a material girl who enjoys sex, drugs and rock and roll or as the jealousy ridden girl out to destroy herself." Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama noted, "The scene stealer is, without doubt, Deepika, who not only looks sizzling hot, but pitches in her career-best performance. She lets herself loose, surrenders to her character wholly and nails the performance. It's an incredibly noticeable act. It wouldn't be erroneous to state that Cocktail would do for Deepika what Jab We Met did for Kareena." Also, the film was a major commercial success in not only the Indian box office, but also the overseas box office.

Padukone will be next seen in Race 2 alongside Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez and Ameesha Patel. Following this, Padukone is all set to make her Kollywood debut in Soundarya Rajnikanth's Kochadaiyaan opposite Rajnikanth. She is currently filming for Ayan Mukerji's Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani opposite ex-boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Ram Leela opposite Ranveer Singh. and Rohit Shetty's action romance film Chennai Express alongside Shahrukh Khan. Furthermore, it has been reported that Padukone has signed a film opposite Emraan Hashmi under the production of Karan Johar and Ekta Kapoor, however, there has been no official confirmation regarding this.

Read more about this topic:  Deepika Padukone, Career

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