Deepika Padukone takes over cover of Time magazine as ‘global star’; says she ‘feels nothing’ about political backlash

Deepika Padukone is the latest ‘global star’ to feature on the cover of Time magazine. She is credited with ‘bringing the world to Bollywood’ with her work. In 2018, she was among the 100 people honoured by the magazine on their 100 Most Influential list. (Also read: Shah Rukh Khan is one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in 2023)

In her corresponding interview, Deepika is called ‘the most popular actress in the world’s most populous country’. On the cover, she is seen wearing a beige oversized suit and no shoes.

In the interview, Deepika spoke about the ‘constant political backlash’ against her. She said, “I don’t know if I’m supposed to feel something about it. But the truth is, I don’t feel anything about it.” Previously, Deepika’s film Padmaavat saw protests from Karni Sena; her visit to the Jawaharlal Nehru University to express solidarity with students, who were attacked by a mob, caused an uproar; and her ‘saffron bikini’ from a song in Pathaan was heavily discussed and debated online, with the film witnessing boycott calls as well.

Deepika also spoke about India’s recent performance at the Oscars, where she also joined as a presenter. Telugu film RRR won Best Song trophy for Naatu Naatu and Guneet Monga’s The Elephant Whisperers won Best Documentary Short. Deepika, however, believes we should not be content with it. “But I don’t think we should be happy with one Oscar for a song and one Oscar for a documentary,” she said. “I hope we can look at this as the beginning of an opportunity.”

Deepika will be next seen in the upcoming pan-India action thriller film Project K opposite actor Prabhas. She also has Siddharth Anand’s next action thriller film Fighter opposite Hrithik Roshan in pipeline.

This is her second film with Siddharth Anand after they delivered this year’s biggest hit, Pathaan. Fighter, which is scheduled to be released on January 25 next year, will also star Karan Singh Grover and Akshay Oberoi.