Deepika Padukone had a shocking revelation for those who had gathered at Hema Malini’s book launch last night. Bollywood’s reigning female lead admitted that she found it difficult to finish her 11th and 12th grade in her hometown of Bengaluru, and ultimately abandoned attempts to complete her college education.
“Even my 11th and 12th, I struggled to finish. I was already a very successful model, and I was based in Bengaluru but I had to keep travelling to Delhi and Mumbai for work. I couldn’t keep up. Then I ultimately finished my 12th and I tried to do one year of my degree. I couldn’t do that, I then tried to do distance education, I couldn’t complete that as well so I’m just a 12th pass,” Deepika explained.
The actress’s parents reacted like any middle-class parents would. “My parents back then had a big issue with that because they always wanted me to only start working after having a basic college degree. The very conservative Indian way of looking at it is that you need to have something to fall back on.”
Prakash and Ujjawala Padukone have since, presumably, made their peace with Deepika’s decision, and given that their daughter is the highest-paid female star in Bollywood, reportedly commanding a fee of Rs 12 crore.
All’s well that ends well, we suppose…
Deepika Padukone’s favourite bags
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