From Besharam Rang to the Bollywood drugs scandal and Padmavaat: The many times Deepika Padukone courted controversy

Over the years, Deepika Padukone has sealed her place as one of the top actors in Bollywood. But no top actor, it seems, is saved from their share of controversies. And Deepika is no stranger to this. As the actor-producer-entrepreneur turns a year older today, we take a look at her many controversies over the years…

Besharam Rang
Deepika’s most recent controversy is from her soon-to-be-released film with Shah Rukh Khan, Pathaan. Some religious outfits took offence to the fact that Deepika wore a saffron-coloured bikini in the song, since saffron is associated with Hinduism. 

Gehraiyaan
Deepika was trolled for her intimate scenes and revealing clothes in the 2022 film, with some asking her if she took husband Ranveer Singh’s permission before doing those scenes. She was also trolled by a social media influencer for wearing revealing outfits while promoting the film, who she gave an apt reply to via a post. 

Drug scandal
In 2020, a WhatsApp chat between Deepika and her manager karishma Prakash was made public, in which she allegedly discussed drugs. She was among the Bollywood celebrities who were questioned by the Narcotics Control Bureau in connection with the drug racket that was unearthed during the investigations into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. 

Anti-CAA protest at JNU
In 2020, Deepika made headlines after silently participating in the anti-CAA protests at JNU. Many called this a publicity stunt to promote her film Chhapaak, while others claimed that she received ₹5 crore from a businessman with close ties to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. Deepika later responded, saying that it’s important to let the people speak their mind without any fear and she’s proud of those who are doing that.

Chhapaak
As part of the promotions of her 2020 production venture Chhapaak, Deepika was slammed for a Tik Tok video, in which she challenged a user to recreate her acid attack survivor look from the film. The film is based on the story of real-life acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. Netizens slammed this as insensitive and even accused the actor of trivialising an acid attack survivor’s trauma by calling it a 'look'.

Padmaavat
Alleging that the film shows the Rajput queen Padmavati in a bad light, several Rajput organisations held protests while the film was still in the production stage, and some people even vandalised the film set. Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali was assaulted during the vandalism attempt. The name of the film was changed from Padmavati to Padmaavat post the incident in 2018. 

My Choice video
Deepika received widespread criticism for the feminist 2015 video My Choice, which had 98 women expressing different choices of women. The actor was slammed for what was perceived as elitist and sexist, especially the line, ‘It's a woman’s choice to have sex outside of marriage'. Deepika later clarified that she never intended to promote infidelity in relationships.

Cleavage controversy
In 2014, Deepika slammed the Times of India for a video of hers, with the headline 'OMG: Deepika Padukone's cleavage show'. The actor took to her Twitter page to slam the video, with the caption, 'YES! I am a Woman.I have breasts AND a cleavage! You got a problem!!??' There was a lot of back-and-forth between the leading daily and Deepika, with many actors lauding Deepika for taking a stand. 

Auctioning funeral clothes
In 2013, a Twitter user noted that Deepika was auctioning off clothes that she had worn to the funerals of actress Jiah Khan and Priyanka Chopra Jonas' father. The user also pointed out that the actor was selling off clothes worn on other occasions as well, and questioned why she didn't donate them to charity instead. This led to several online debates.

Ram Leela
Many Hindu outfits across the country took offence to the name of the 2013 movie, due to its association with Lord Ram. An FIR was also registered against Deepika, the leading man Ranveer Singh and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Jalandhar. The name of the film was changed to Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela just 48 hours ahead of its release. 

Dum Maaro Dum
In 2011, Deepika's special number, Mit Jaye Gham from the film Dum Maaro Dum, made headlines because it reportedly upset veteran actor Dev Anand, who was miffed with the fact that a skimpily clad Deepika featured in the remake of the original Zeenat Aman song from his 1971 film Hare Rama Hare Krishna.