Deepika Padukone opens up about facing political backlash for 'Padmaavat', 'Pathaan' & JNU appearance

Deepika Padukone appeared on the cover of the TIME magazine, in which she spoke about the political backlash she has faced in the course of her 15-year film career in the Hindi cinema industry.

In her interview with the US-based magazine, the 37-year-old addressed the controversies she faced for her films ‘Padmaavat’ and ‘Pathaan’.

When her films were releasing, Padukone found herself in the eye of the storm as people slammed ‘Padmaavat’ for allegedly distorting historical facts.

"I don't know if I'm supposed to feel something about it. But the truth is, I don't feel anything about it," the 37-year-old told during an interview with the magazine, who pointed out that there was a long pause before Padukone delivered her answer.

‘Padmaavat’ wasn’t the only incident. During the launch of her maiden production ‘Chhapaak’, the actress was slammed for standing in solidarity with JNU students who were protesting against the recent violence on campus.

Her appearance led to boycott calls from political parties. Later, the actress was yet again in the middle of political controversy for wearing a saffron-coloured bikini as a Pakistani spy in ‘Pathaan’ song ‘Besharam Rang’.

She joins the long list of Indian names, including industry colleagues Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Aamir Khan, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who graced the cover of the TIME magazine.

This isn’t the first time that the actress has found a mention in TIME magazine. In 2018, the actress was the magazine’s 100 most influential people alongside Bhavish Aggarwal, the co-founder of cab aggregator Ola and former Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli.

In the article titled 'Deepika Padukone Is Bringing the World to Bollywood' published on May 10, the actress said: "This is India's moment."

"Indian cinema has transcended borders and Indians are everywhere. So the fame goes wherever you go... I didn't have a game plan for how to get here, but I didn't see failure on my vision board," said Padukone, who started her career as a model in advertisements and music videos.