Came to Mumbai with 2 suitcases & a dream; a bit of wisdom & gut helped me make money: Deepika Padukone

"I literally started off from scratch following up with every payment that was due to me, following up with banks, writing cheques, making payments, coordinating with my accountant and that has been my journey. Over a period of time, as the volume increased my father got involved and for the longest time, my father would manage my investments. Today it is really large and beyond my dad as well. So I have a fantastic team that manages my finances," says Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone.

Do you just like to earn the money or you are invested in seeing it grow as well?
Of course, I want my money to grow and of course I want my money to be smart while I am out there working, I have always been hands-on. When I was 18 and moved to Mumbai, the big bad city with two suitcases and a dream.

I literally started off from scratch following up with every payment that was due to me, following up with banks, writing cheques, making payments, coordinating with my accountant and that has been my journey.

Of course, over a period of time, as the volume increased my father got involved and for the longest time, my father would manage my investments. Having said that, he has always been someone who has believed in not keeping me isolated from it. In fact, he has always been one to empower me and my sister, always educating us along the way while also guiding us if we faltered.

I think today it is really-really large and it is beyond my dad as well. So I have a fantastic team that manages my finances. I think it is a bit of wisdom combined with gut and that in my opinion is the best recipe where you have experts do what they do and at the same time, they run it past me and my father. Eventually it is about guts. At least that has been the sort of mantra for now and it has worked.

Tell me what you dabble in? Is it the stock market that you prefer or is it start-ups which have been doing well? Have you also dabbled into cryptocurrency, NFTs etc?
Deepika Padukone: No, it is a little more of the first two. I am not such a fan of anything that does not feel real. I am a little traditional in that sense. By traditional, I do not mean non-aggressive. There is a part of me that is very ambitious, very aggressive but that is different from things that just feel a bit airy. So yes, I would not want to share too much of where my money is.

What is the secret of the energy of your husband – Ranveer Singh?
He hates talking about it because he feels he gets typecast as this energised bunny...

But that is cute. We are all in awe of it and wish we had that energy level?
I do not know – enthusiasm, energy, excitement. He is a people person, he loves people, he feels like it is his responsibility to entertain people, to engage with people which I am sure can also get stressful at times because physically, emotionally, mentally you are not always in the best place. But he still takes that pressure on himself. Nobody was expecting this from him but now it has gotten to a place where there is that expectation from him. I am always concerned about him and make sure that he is okay. But he is always about no, I need to make sure people are okay. So yes, I think it just comes from just loving people.

So, regional cinema, Hollywood or Bollywood?
Cinema.

South Indian movies have been doing quite well...
Just cinema in general. I would not differentiate it with regional cinema or Indian cinema or global cinema. Cinema in general is such a powerful tool and a powerful medium, it has the ability to impact lives and to bring about changes. Just powerful intelligent cinema is exciting. And sometimes even just entertaining cinema.