When Farah Khan said that Deepika Padukone’s diction was ‘really bad’ during Om Shanti Om: ‘Her voice was dubbed’

Months later, when Farah decided to make Om Shanti Om, she auditioned her in the Amrapali outfit, which she wore in the song “Dhoom Tanna”. “I wanted someone who could look like that era’s Hema Malini. I found that quality in her,” she recalled.

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But, it wasn’t smooth sailing for her. Farah Khan said that Deepika Padukone’s voice was “really bad then”. “Her diction was bad but when she did songs, her face would light up. She was very expressive with songs,” she said. Which is why, Deepika’s voice in the film was dubbed by another artiste while the rest of the film was sync sound. She said, “Everything else was sync sound but her voice was dubbed. She was doing diction classes, not very seriously. But she was doing dance class, diction class, Anupam Kher’s acting school. I enrolled her in everything,” she said and added, “We were properly training her.”

Om Shanti Om was a huge launch for Deepika and while she did not get praised for her acting back then, she was immediately noticed for her star-like screen presence.