Deepika Padukone started working in Bollywood at the age of 21. She gained recognition from a music video, Naam Hai Tera, by Himesh Reshammiya. The actress, who has a sports background, started modelling at the age of 14 and later developed aspirations of working in the Hindi film industry. In an interview with Vogue, Deepika reminisced about her initial days in the industry and how she paved her own way in the rush to be at the top. While there are many actors who have mentors who guide them or those who belong to a film family, Deepika had no training and no mentoring. 

"I had no training, no mentors. I worked it all out on my own. Sure, I had some failures, personal and professional. But sheer determination fuelled me. It was empowering," said the Piku actress. How did Deepika bag films? "As a family, we saw maybe two films a year. I don't know why but whenever I watched a movie, I knew that one day I'd be doing this. I'd start with modelling, then go into films. And that's exactly how it happened."