Deepika Padukone reveals how she landed Om Shanti Om without a traditional audition: ‘For me, it happened because..’-OxBig News Network

When Karan brought up the “insider vs outsider” debate, Deepika shared, “These are terms that we seem to be discussing now, insider-outsider. When I began, it was just a new world. I was a 16-17 year old girl, came from Bangalore, and Farah Khan showed interest in casting me in a movie. I was transitioning between Bangalore and Mumbai at the time. She did an audition. I remember doing a meeting with her once. She said, I wanted to meet Shah Rukh once. He was shooting for Chakde in Australia at the time. She said once he’s back, we’ll do a meeting. That was it. For me, it just happened because I was a model before that. They’d seen some of my work. But I never felt like I was an outsider trying to make my place in a new industry. I had the dedication, I had the passion, I had the determination, the hard work. Those were the things in my control. And those were the things that I applied to what I was passionate about.”

She further added, “Of course, I was a model before that. They had seen some of my work. But I never felt that I was an outsider trying to make my place in a new industry. I had the dedication, passion, determination, and hard work. Those were the things that were in my control. Those were the things that had applied to what I was passionate about.”

Her debut in Om Shanti Om later catapulted Dua’s mum to stardom, marking the start of an incredibly successful career. Shah Rukh, reflecting on his own journey, shared, “Jab main yahan (Mumbai) aaya tha, I never thought ki main outsider hoon iss liye main iss duniya ka hissa nahi ban sakta… I believed this is my world… Mujhe laga yeh duniya meri hai… yeh jagah meri hai.”

The conversation between the two icons was a heartfelt reminder of their shared struggles and triumphs in the film industry.