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TIME's most influential: Deepika Padukone, the only Indian actress to be featured

Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone is the only Indian actress to be featured on Time Magazine's prestigious 100 Most Influential People list, and fellow actress Priyanka Chopra tweeted a shout-out to her colleague, saying she was proud of the Padmaavat actress.

Indians featured in the Influential People list also include Ola co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal and cricketer Virat Kohli.


"So happy and proud to see my friends Deepika Padukone and Virat Kohli on the #Time100 list. Big congratulations and so well deserved. #DesiPower #Represent," Chopra's tweet read.

Padukone is featured in the Artists category of the Time 100 list of 2018. Her fellow honorees include Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Gal Gadot, Sterling K Brown, Jimmy Kimmel, Guillermo Del Toro and Millie Bobby Brown.

"What an absolute honour," Padukone wrote on Instagram after the Time 100 list was announced.

In a separate post, she thanked her xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage co-star Vin Diesel for authoring her write-up for Time.

"Deepika is the best Earth has to offer. She's not just here to represent India; she's here to represent the world," Diesel wrote.

"When Deepika Padukone came in to read for one of the Fast and the Furious films, I knew instantly I was in the presence of someone very special. As soon as she entered the room, there was a synchronicity, a synergy, a chemistry, it promised great things to come," Diesel wrote on TIME website, added that Padukone was one of the best actresses he has ever worked with.

"Anyone could talk about how beautiful she is, and anyone could tell you about her unmatched comedic timing. But she isn't just a star. She's an actor's actor, dedicated to the craft," said Diesel.

Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has written a bio on Kohli, featured under Titans with the likes of Roger Federer, Oprah Winfrey, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. "The U-19 World Cup in 2008 was very important for India, as it would define the next bunch of youngsters who would go on to represent the nation. That was the first time I watched this young, passionate player lead India," wrote Tendulkar.

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Highlights:

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  • Verdict: Six accused convicted; actor Dileep acquitted of conspiracy in December 2025.
  • Industry impact: Led to WCC, Hema Committee report, and exposure of systemic harassment.
  • Aftermath: Protests, public backlash, and survivor’s statement questioning justice and equality.

You arrive in Kochi, and it feels like the sea air makes everything slightly sharper; faces in the city look purposeful, a film poster peels at the corner of a wall. In a city that has cradled a thriving film industry for decades, a single crime on the night of 17 February 2017 ruptured the ordinary: an abduction, a recorded sexual assault and a survivor who reported it the next day. What happened next is every woman’s unspoken nightmare, weaponised into brutal reality. It was a public unpeeling of an industry’s power structures, a slow-motion fight over evidence and testimony, and a national debate about how institutions protect (or fail) women.

For over eight years, her fight for justice became a mirror held up to an entire industry and a society. It was a journey from the dark confines of that car to the glaring lights of a courtroom, from being a silenced victim to becoming a defiant survivor whose voice sparked a revolution. This is not just the story of a crime. It is the story of what happens when one woman says, "Enough," and the tremors that follow.

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