This year saw the release of "Chennai Express," where the pairing of Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone once again delighted audiences. Produced by Gauri Khan and directed by Rohit Shetty, this Hindi film, set in a South Indian backdrop, established new milestones of success. From a box-office perspective, this film was a blockbuster, being hailed as one of the most successful films in terms of global earnings.
While these achievements may hold significance for Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment, for Deepika Padukone, this year solidified her position as the undisputed number one actress in the film industry. Deepika's role in this film is particularly noteworthy for her career because it set a new benchmark for acting in a different genre. In "Cocktail" and "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani," she portrayed a modern, urban woman, while here, she successfully embodied a traditional middle-class girl with a desi flair.
Her portrayal of a Tamilian girl, along with the use of Tamil in several dialogues, posed a unique challenge for her. The film's music was ordinary, but the screenplay was tightly written. Like the protagonist, the audience barely had time to think or reflect on what was happening. Instead, they laughed and were thrilled throughout.
The film's dialogues were also humorous. Deepika seamlessly transformed into a traditional Tamil girl from a small town. For the first time, people took note of something else—there had long been an intense rivalry between Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone for the top spot, and this year it seemed that Deepika had gained some advantage in this neck-to-neck competition. Some argued that Priyanka, being in a serious relationship and possibly on the brink of starting a family, should not be considered in this professional race at this time. Additionally, Priyanka’s Hollywood connections were at their peak.
However, the audience and fans once again relished the thrill of a fierce competition between two superstars, something they had been missing for decades. For nearly three decades, the title of "number one actress" had been claimed solely based on the box-office success of an actress's films, without any real competition. The actor or actress holding this position was considered the undisputed king or queen of the film world.
Years ago, a similar battle was seen between Hema Malini and Mumtaz, or Rekha and Zeenat Aman. Later, Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Kajol, Rani Mukerji, Aishwarya Rai, Vidya Balan, and Katrina Kaif all held this top spot at different times, based solely on their hit films. They didn’t have to defeat anyone to win this title. Another reality is that after the so-called "golden era," the reign of top actresses became more short-lived, while for actors, this wasn’t the case.
The biggest reason for this was the sudden increase in the success of Indian women in global beauty pageants in the final decade of the previous century. As a result, one after another, these "declared" beauties began to grace the silver screen. Except for Yukta Mookhey, almost all of them enjoyed reasonably successful careers. Only the competition between Kajol and Rani Mukerji, filled with major successes, brought excitement to the audience for some time.
Vidya Balan and Katrina Kaif did face some challenges from Kareena Kapoor, but Kareena was never considered the best star by the audience based solely on her acting. Her success was often attributed to the success of multi-starrer projects. After many years, this fierce competition between Deepika and Priyanka brought back excitement.
And the year 2013 undoubtedly belonged to Deepika Padukone. Once again, the situation arose where every producer, big or small, wanted to approach Deepika for their next film. However, Deepika wisely reined in her fast-paced career and began accepting only select films.
During this time, Deepika also made a guest appearance in another film, "Bombay Talkies." In the film, she appeared as herself, a movie star, with a special appearance in the song "Apna Bombay Talkies."
Since her debut, Deepika had already won several awards, including the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, along with the Screen Award and several other nominations. The following year, recognizing her South Indian roots and popularity, Deepika acted in a Tamil film "Kochadaiiyaan." She had already worked in a Kannada film during her early days. After the massive success of her Hindi films, taking up a Tamil film proved that for an artist, language doesn’t matter—their role and acting do.
While many big stars keep a close eye on the complete commercial aspects of their films, Deepika demonstrated that she is an artist, an actress! It’s quite surprising that despite being twice named the "sexiest woman" both in India and internationally, she was never accused of vulgarity or indecency.
In the Indian edition of FHM, she was named not just India's, but the world's sexiest woman. This accolade stunned actresses globally. However, her Indian fans did not truly grasp the meaning of this title. Many of her well-wishers were astonished by this achievement, some doubtful, and others simply remained mysteriously silent.
But for a great actress, what this truly means should be understood by everyone connected to film history, present, and future. It doesn’t imply that she had open relationships or invited men to pursue her. It means that she evoked the strongest desire in men to fall in love with her. It's not her fault if someone dreams about her—what can she do about that? If the world is madly in love with her, then that’s the world’s problem, not hers!
Some European countries' histories are filled with incidents where beautiful princesses and queens conducted shocking and unique experiments to measure the realm of their irresistibly beautiful bodies within the hearts and minds of men.
