Her family moved to Bangalore, Karnataka, India, when she was eleven months old. Deepika's Father Prakash Padukone, is a retired badminton player of international repute, and her mother is a travel agent.

While in college, Padukone pursued a career in modeling. She has modeled for such Indian brand names. Padukone appeared in the music video for Himesh Reshammiya's song Naam Hai Tera.

In 2006, Padukone made her cinematic debut in the Kannada film Aishwarya opposite actor Upendra. She later made a successful Bollywood debut in 2007 with Farah Khan's blockbuster Om Shanti Om opposite Shahrukh Khan.