Indiranagar Has A New 'Gundi.' Deepika Padukone Throws It Way Back With Childhood Photo

Deepika Padukone baby photo is taking the internet by storm. Saturday evening, the Piku actor hopped on the gunda train currently making rounds on the streets of Indiranagar, Bengaluru, courtesy former Indian cricket team captain Rahul Dravid. And the internet has unanimously contended that both Padukone and Dravid make for the most adorable 'gangsters' ever.

The trend began Friday when an ad starring a furious Dravid went viral - a masterstroke of sorts since Mr Dependable or The Great Wall (call him what you will) through his cricketing career was known to never lose his calm. So naturally, when he broke rearview mirrors and smashed windows proclaiming (more earnestly than angrily) - "Indiranagar ka gunda hoon main" - everyone sat up to take note.

So did Padukone it seems. Taking after Dravid's gunda declaration, the actor shared a childhood photo of herself, bundled up in winter clothes sporting a mischievous grin, and wrote on Instagram, "Indiranagar ki gundi hoon main!”🤣"

The photo has amassed over a million likes and thousands of comments from fans both tickled with the caption and gushing at her baby self.

See Deepika Padukone baby photo as 'Indiranagar ki gundi':

Source: Deepika Padukone / Instagram

Both Dravid and Padukone's 'Indiranagar gunda' identities aren't without context. Though born in different places - Padukone in Denmark and Dravid in Madhya Pradesh - they were both raised for the better part of their growing years in Bengaluru.

Deepika Padukone Baby Photo: Looking Back On The Actor's Childhood

Padukone hails from a sporting family - her father notably being world badminton champion Prakash Padukone - that relocated to Bengaluru when she was one. Her mother worked as a travel agent. Owing to the badminton stroke that ran in their family, Padukone and her sister Anisha were both inducted into sports at an early age.

She has, in interviews, described her childhood as having been rather simple and herself as reserved and socially awkward. "At a very young age, I played competitive badminton. I would wake up at five in the morning, go for physical training, go to school, again go for playing badminton, finish my homework and go to sleep... Like my father, I was also very shy and reserved," she told Times of India in 2012.

Active on social media, the actor now often gives fans a peek into her childhood. She shared a video collage of memories from her years growing up in January 2021. The Padmavat actor also hopped on the viral pawri ho rahi hai trend sharing a fan-made childhood meme earlier this year. More on that here. 

Pictured: Deepika Padukone with father Prakash Padukone

While Padukone developed an inclination towards fashion and modelling during her school years, Anisha stayed with sports and is now a successful golfer. Padukone completed school and junior college in Bengaluru and subsequently shifted focus to her modelling career full time.

Before stepping into the films, Padukone had already marked her place in the modelling world with a well-received Liril advertisement and a prominent campaign for Kingfisher. She made her screen debut with Kannada-film Aishwarya in 2006 and made her Bollywood debut with Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om in 2007. Padukone, now married to Ranveer Singh, is counted among the film industry's top actors.