Bollywood Hungama reported that the success of '' Om Shanti Om '' proved a breakthrough for Padukone . She followed this success with the role of Gayatri ( one of star Ranbir Kapoor 's love interests ) , a feisty student in Australia who moonlights as a cab driver in Yash Raj Films ' romantic comedy '' Bachna Ae Haseeno '' ( 2008 ) . The film was a financial success , but Namrata Joshi of '' Outlook '' wrote that Padukone 's performance was disappointing ; " She is mannequin-like and utterly lacks fire and zing . " Padukone 's first release of 2009 came alongside Akshay Kumar in the Nikhil Advani-directed kung fu comedy '' Chandni Chowk To China '' , in which she portrayed the dual roles of Indian-Chinese twin sisters Sakhi and Suzy . Produced by Warner Bros. , it had one of the widest international releases ever given to an Indian film . Padukone learned the Japanese martial art form of jujutsu and performed her own stunts . Despite the hype , '' Chandni Chowk To China '' was a financial failure with worldwide earnings of on a budget of . Film critics were generally disappointed with the picture and Padukone 's performance ; Justin Trout of '' Orlando Weekly '' noted , " She is so wasted in '' Chandni Chowk '' , my mind often wandered back to '' Om Shanti Om '' during her scenes , possibly as a defense mechanism . " That same year , Padukone featured in an item number ( for a song called " Love Mera Hit Hit " ) in the drama '' Billu '' , following which she appeared alongside Saif Ali Khan in the romantic drama '' Love Aaj Kal '' from the writer-director Imtiaz Ali . The film documented the changing value of relationships among the youth and had Padukone play the part of Meera Pandit , a head-strong career woman . With a worldwide gross of , '' Love Aaj Kal '' proved to be the third highest-grossing film of 2009 . Aniruddha Guha of '' Daily News and Analysis '' said that Padukone " delivers the best of her four performances so far " and Nikhat Kazmi of '' The Times of India '' mentioned her as " definitive and strong . " At the 55th Filmfare Awards Padukone received a nomination for Best Actress
55th Filmfare Awards
55th Filmfare Awards
Deepika Padukone