It is just after noon on a sunny Friday in Mumbai when I am driving into Beau Monde Towers to meet Deepika Padukone. The security at the gate asks whether I want to go to her home or the office. “The office,” I reply. That’s the 30th floor then, just a few flights up from the apartment she has lived in in the posh gated community in Prabhadevi for 12 years, and shares with her husband of five years, actor Ranveer Singh. It is telling that the glamorous movie star has her personal and her official spaces in the same edifice, almost as if her heart and her head are of commensurate consequence.
They clearly are. Padukone is having the most unusual year: 2023 began with the biggest blockbuster Hindi cinema has seen since Dangal (2016)—Pathaan—headlined by Shah Rukh Khan, John Abraham and Padukone; it has collected around ₹1,050 crore (and counting) globally. Padukone’s net worth has reportedly snowballed to ₹500 crore this year, thanks to her investments in multiple startups, making her the richest female Indian celebrity. She was valued at ₹300 crore in 2020.
Since 2016-2017, Padukone has been among the highest taxpayers in India, and the only female actor to be in the list of top 10 highest taxpayers. That year, she paid over ₹10 crore in taxes, and has retained her position in that list ever since. As per a Forbes report, she earned ₹48 crore in 2019 and beat celebrities like cricketer Rohit Sharma, actors Rajinikanth and Ajay Devgn to enter India’s top 10 rich list of celebrities.
Her carefully orchestrated career is a conscious decision, Padukone admits. “I think like an athlete…. My discipline comes from my sports background,” she explains.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 24, 2023-Ausgabe von THE WEEK India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 24, 2023-Ausgabe von THE WEEK India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
