Deepika Padukone shares her fondest memories of time spent with her father, Prakash
Upala KBR (DNA; June 19, 2016)


And though she is still busy — bang in the middle of script narrations — finalising her next Bollywood projects, Deepika will take time out to spend some time with her dad (her hero!) today, as her parents are currently in Mumbai. The actress shares some interesting memories of her father with us…

She tells us that she and her sister have always had a grounded childhood in spite of the fact that her dad was the first celebrity in the family — Prakash is one of Indian badminton’s biggest legends. “Anisha and I have had a very normal upbringing in Bangalore. We have always been a very close-knit family. Being daughters of someone deeply entrenched in the world of sports, there have been certain values that we picked up from dad like determination, and discipline... But the most important value for us as a family is to be good human beings. That is something that will stay with us for life.”

She shares a cute memory of her father as a child. “Every time I think of my dad, I think of him in a lungi. Every morning he would drop us to school in a lungi (laughs)! That is one of our fondest memories of dad.”

How is she planning to spend Father’s Day? Pat comes the reply, “Hopefully by spending some quality time with him…”

Harshada Rege (DNA; April 27, 2016)

No, it’s not beau Ranveer Singh, who flew all those air miles to be with girlfriend Deepika Padukone. Instead, this time around, it’s DP’s parents, Prakash and Ujjala Padukone, who are in Toronto to visit their beti where she is shooting for her first Hollywood venture xXx.

They will spend around eight days in Deepika’s company before returning home. Their younger daughter Anisha isn’t part of the family reunion as she is busy in Bangalore. The actress has been stationed in Toronto for quite a while for the movie’s shoot. Ranveer had visited the sets when he was in Toronto to spend Valentine’s Day with DP.

Since it’s one of her longest outdoor schedules so far, Deepika hasn’t had a chance to spend time with her parents. She did take a break to attend her best friend’s wedding in Sri Lanka, but that was a flying visit.

Deepika, of course, was overjoyed that her parents came visiting. The actress will be able to head back home sometime in May after wrapping the shoot.

Sarita A Tanwar (DNA; July 6, 2015)


She reveals, “When I read the script, I realised why I needed my real mum to be a part of it. In a strange way, it helped me say a lot of things that I would not have said to her. So via the ad, I did it. That’s why I broke down while shooting for it. But it was a great bonding session for my mother and me because before the shoot she kept calling me as she was so paranoid about who would do her hair, make-up and clothes and I was like, ‘Don’t worry, you have the best in the industry doing it.’”

Shooting with her mom was extra special because she has always stayed in the shadows while the rest of her family shone in the spotlight. Deepika adds, “She has completely taken a backseat in the family when it comes to the limelight. We all are what we are today because of her, and her support and holding us and keeping it all together. But she never comes in the limelight, or gives interviews, The ad also, I thought she would not do. But I think she agreed because of the concept.”

She recalls, “It was fun and she is a rock star. She had more work than me because mine were just short bits. But she had all those montages to shoot. She shot 18-20 hours, but there was no complaining. Dad has faced cameras and dealt with the media. He doesn’t enjoy it though because he is shy, he is reserved. But he still sort of understands. He has been there, he understands the atmosphere. But it was all new for mom and she was amazing.”

Although her dad is used to facing cameras, surprisingly she hasn’t done an ad with him. “We have not done a TV ad together but we have done a print campaign for Axis Bank. I think in the next couple of months, we will see something with dad as well.”

Sarita A Tanwar (DNA; June 2, 2015)


In the film, she and her screen father are often seen bickering over household issues. Ask her how similar is her relationship with her father in real life to the one in Piku, and she says, “Similar and different at the same time. Similar from the comfort point of view, the love and respect that I have for my father and the comfort that I share with him. But like all daughters, I look up to him and like every woman wants her husband to be like her father, I do too. So, of course, all of that is there though I do believe that people like my dad are extremely rare. and what’s different is the age factor. Bhashkor’s age in the film and the issues that he deals with are very, very different from what my dad is going through, but I guess what I can definitely say is that I think Piku has prepared me for my parents’ latter years.

Money-wise
On screen, she and her Baba fight over things like the maid and salt in the food, among other things. What do she and Prakash Padukone argue about? She smiles, “Finances. Though he knows I am pretty conservative when it comes to my spending. Like when we go on holidays, for example. I feel we take holidays so rarely... and family holidays even rarer. So when we do, I want to make it as special as I can for them. But then he’ll be like ‘No, no this hotel is too expensive..’ That’s where we disagree. Then I have to convince them by saying, ‘Oh we go out so rarely” and then we find a middle ground eventually. Eventually, he is like, ‘Fine, it’s your money so it is up to you but as a father, it is my responsibility to tell you.’ But they trust me like that and I am pretty conservative.”

Figuring it out
Like even now my dad is going to be 60, so we are figuring out what to do. So I am like doing his planning and all and I keep getting emails back from them saying “No, no this is too much.’ I am like ‘It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.’