Deepika Padukone as Shanti Priya in Shah Rukh Khan's Om Shanti Om was all things beautiful. The film marked Deepika's Bollywood debut. It was released in 2007. Now, in an interview with The Quint, Sobhita Dhulipala has revealed that she “loved looking” at Deepika in the Farah Khan directorial. The actress said that she felt “comforted” by Deepika, who is beautiful but still has a certain “South-Indianness” to her. Her statement came in context to the beauty standards of the entertainment industry, which still have a “colonial hangover.”
Sobhita Dhulipala said, “When I watched Om Shanti Om, I loved looking at the actress. I was like wow she looked like someone I would…I mean beautiful but there was still a South-Indianness to it, which I felt comforted by. I'd rather focus on being that. There is a void, and I think now more than ever, we should celebrate dusky skin. You got to take who you are and be proud of it, be truthful to it.”
Further in the interview, Sobhita Dhulipala stated that the legendary actresses of Indian cinema, including Vyayjanthimala, Rekha, and Zeenat Aman, have been her “heroes and inspiration”. “I didn't see how their looks came in the way of their success,” she added.
According to the actress, “There is a colonial hangover, when it comes to beauty which I don't find interesting because I can't relate to it as an audience, as a child whatever I watched I couldn't relate to that as much as I would to some other women. It so happens that a lot of my heroes have looked separate from that mould. Like Vaijantimala ji, Rekha ji, Zeenat Aman, Praveen Babi, Smita Patil, Vidya Balan, Tabu all these women are glamorous, good looking, charming and have great personalities… like Priyanka Chopra so these were my inspiration and I didn't see how their looks came in the way of their success.”
Sobhita Dhulipala was last seen in Made In Heaven Season 2. She played the role of a wedding planner. She was also part of Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan series.