Akhtar then moved onto his next project, Lakshya (2004), a movie about an aimless youngster finally setting a goal for himself, starring Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta. Though the movie did not do as well at the box-office, it won him much critical acclaim. The script of the movie was authored by his father Javed Akhtar. Meanwhile, he also wrote lyrics for Gurinder Chadha's 2004 Hollywood film, Bride and Prejudice.
He then directed a remake of the 1978 Amitabh Bachchan film, Don titled Don - The Chase Begins Again which starred Shahrukh Khan in the title role. The film released on 20 October 2006. Though the movie was critically hammered, it proved to be a great success at the box office,grossing over 50 crores, and being the fifth biggest hit of the year.
While in college, Padukone pursued a career in modeling. She was spotted in a ramp competition in NLS, Bangalore. Over the years, she has modeled for such Indian brand names as Liril, Dabur Lal powder, Close-Up toothpaste and Limca, and has been "brand ambassador" for the Jewels of India retail jewelery show.The cosmetics company Maybelline made her its international spokesperson.
At the fifth annual Kingfisher Fashion Awards she was awarded the title "Model of the Year". Shortly afterward, she was chosen as one of the models for the Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar for 2006 and won two trophies at the Idea Zee Fashion Awards: "Female Model of the Year - (Commercial Assignments)" and "Fresh Face of the Year" Padukone was also chosen as the brand ambassador of Kingfisher Airlines and later Levi Strauss and Tissot SA.
After pursuing a successful career in modeling, Padukone branched out into acting. She started by starring in the music video for the song Naam Hai Tera from the independent pop album Aap Kaa Surroor by Himesh Reshammiya.
In 2006, Padukone made her cinematic debut in the Kannada film Aishwarya starring opposite actor Upendra. She later made a successful Bollywood debut in 2007 with Farah Khan's international hit Om Shanti Om opposite Shahrukh Khan. The film featured her portraying 1970s star Shantipriya and later as Sandhya aka Sandy, a young woman who looks exactly like Shantipriya. Her performance was well received, earning the actress a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award as well as her first Filmfare Best Actress nomination. Taran Adarsh from indiaFM noted, "Deepika has all it takes to be a top star the personality, the looks and yes, she's supremely talented too. Standing in the same frame as SRK and getting it right is no small achievement. She comes as a whiff of fresh air!"
Padukone next appeared in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008) opposite Ranbir Kapoor and then the Warner Bro.-Rohan Sippy collaboration, Chandni Chowk to China, released on January 16, 2009. She recently starred in Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal (2009) opposite Saif Ali Khan.
- In an effort to create a more realistic performance for the movie by enriching his acting with the thoughts and emotions of his character, Farhan Akhtar had suddenly withdrawn into a shell, consciously trying to distance himself from the people around, during the course of the film's shooting. Since the part required him to be a lonely brooder Farhan (who is known to be utterly gregarious and accessible) switched off his phone and became almost inaccessible to the world outside. Friends found Farhan's behavior strange since usually he is so reachable and cheerful. For his role, Farhan said "It was the nature of the character I was playing. He's a guy lost in his world. So I was making an effort to isolate myself. Lately I've just been switching off from the world for the sake of my character.If you want to call it method acting, so be it."
- Farhan Akhtar's character in the film is apparently shown to be solving Rubik's cube throughout the film. For one scene, he was even required to be shown solving the game in one go.
- For the sake of his role in the movie, Farhan Akhtar had taken to solving the Rubik's cube. He became so passionate about it that he solved it wherever he went from parties to shoots to meetings. Since he is known to be a method actor and a perfectionist who believes in going through his paces beforehand, he began learning to unlock the puzzle much before the film hit the floors. He tagged the cube along with him everywhere and practiced it in his free time - in his car, at theaters or even in his office. And reportedly, very soon he became such an expert at it that he now throws challenges at others to beat him at it.
- Some of the scenes will be shot in Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
Edited by kawal_tak - 14 years agoWATCH THEM ON OYE IT'S FRIDAY!