Variety, the weekly American entertainment trade magazine, honoured Deepika Padukone on Women’s Day for her contribution to the entertainment industry and taking part in philanthropic activities. It featured the Bollywood actress alongside the likes of 50 other entertainers and activists from Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America including J. K. Rowling, Gal Gadot, Nicole Kidman and Salma Hayek in its International Women’s Impact report for 2018.

https://twitter.com/deepikapadukone/status/971694214361833472

Deepika, though laid low by a niggling back injury, is still basking in the afterglow of Padmaavat’s resounding success. Delighted with the honour, the actress took to Twitter to thank Variety and said, “Honoured and humbled joining these amazing achievers.” The actress’ inclusion in the list comes for leading the way at a time when the entertainment business has become increasingly global and for being an active participant in issues pertaining to women’s rights.

Variety said of Deepika, “The star of the recent Bollywood blockbuster Padmaavat faced death threats and verbal abuse from various fringe groups with poise and élan. She is now one of the highest-paid Indian actresses and has made the leap from Bollywood movies such as Om Shanti Om and Chennai Express to Hollywood titles including xXx: Return of Xander Cage in 2017. She is also philanthropically active, starting her own Live Laugh Love Foundation, which focuses on mental illness.”

The Variety list also features Guneet Monga, the producer of the Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur starrer The Lunchbox, and said of her, “While female Indian producers are rare, Monga says she actually enjoys people saying no; she just keeps finding creative ways to bring stories to life. Besides Hindi-language films, she produced The Ashram starring Melissa Leo and Kal Penn which premiered this week.” Guneet responded to the honour by saying, “There have been several times where I have not been taken seriously and have had to work twice as hard just because I am a young woman, but I have never let that affect my state of mind towards the end goal of putting together the stories we need to tell.”