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SWOT for Deepika Padukone: Identifying the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats for DP
Decoding Deepika Padukone. The analysis of her stardom, her probable shortfalls, the opportunity that looms in the market and the threats that can pull her down. Pinkvilla discusses
Over the years, SWOT analysis has been conventionally used to identify and analyze the Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats of an organization in the business world. It is among the most accepted principals, alongside PESTLE analysis, used in making a holistic business decision by the stakeholders. As a method, SWOT can be applied in all mediums of work, and in a first, we at Pinkvilla now bring this methodology to application for the top male and female stars of Bollywood. We take this segment forward with Deepika Padukone, and here’s decoding the factors that have worked in favour of, gone against as also, the opportunities waiting to be explored by bypassing the threats for the box office queen.
S: Strengths
Electric on-screen presence
Over the last 20 years, seldom have we heard about a female overpowering the male counterpart in a film, until and unless, the actress in question is Deepika Padukone. She boasts of a screen presence and lively persona, that’s a dream for many actresses. She is among the rare, who has made an attempt to chase meaty roles even in the genres which are conventionally known for the “men” and a glance at her filmography and one can say that she has even succeeded in bagging meaty tracks in all the big films. Over the years, she has defied the notion of actresses coming on board big films for just “song and dance” and positioned herself as a star in her own right. The audience wants to see more of her.
A fanbase, that extends beyond social media
Cocktail was a turning point of Deepika Padukone’s career, and ever since then, there has been no looking back. The rom-com was followed by Race 2, Yeh Jaawani Hai Deewani, Chennai Express, Ram Leela – all in the span of one and a half years. The success of every film consolidated her position as an actor, a star and eventually a superstar. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that she is among the most successful female stars in the last 30 years, probably, an actress with most loyal fan following among her counter-parts, trying to reach the league of top female superstars. The fanbase is particularly existent in the metros of India and the markets abroad. Though the strength of this fan following is yet to be tested, but one well packed female led film (not a dry, docu-drama like Chappaak), would certainly give us an idea about her reach, following and ability to draw in the audience. Probably, Shakun’s next followed by The Intern, both spearheaded solely by her will consolidate the position and give us an glimpse about the audience that's waiting to see her in a well packaged film.
W: Weakness
Unplanned announcements
We all tend to get excited when something big comes our way, but well, being an entertainer, one is in public scrutiny 24*7. Over the last 3 years, Deepika has announced multiple projects in an unplanned manner, with no director or writer in place. Be it the ambitious superhero trilogy, which she was planning at a point of time or Mahabharata, which is still in the prep stage or even The Intern remake. An announcement without a director is more like a driverless vehicle, and if an accident occurs, the blame goes on manufacturer of the car, since there is no driver. Likewise, if a director-less film is announced and eventually gets stalled, there are high chances of it being labelled as a project to up the market, and eventually does tamper the brand value of the actor in question. “She is making the announcements to be in the news,” is a common notion, if a film doesn’t materialize in the longer run. A well-planned announcement with a director, writer, producer and of course, actor, creates a bigger impact than just a producer announcing a film without a director, making it sound like a business preposition.
O: Opportunities
Why so serious?
The dynamic of Indian market is such that serious and author backed roles often don’t reach out to the least common denominator of the society. A glance at DP’s filmography over the last 5 years, and one can find nothing but films and characters in the serious space – be it Tamasha, Bajirao Mastani, Padmaavat or Chhapaak. Of course, the characters need to be layered, but we would love to see Deepika in an out and out comedy. We got to see glimpses of her comic side in Chennai Express and Happy New Year, how about a standalone comedy or an out and out family entertainer with DP? We are sure, she would fit in the space like hand in glove. Comedies aside, seeing her in a relatively lighter space like Yeh Jaawani Hai Deewani, Cocktail (First Half), Piku, Desi Boyz and Break Ke Baad is a delight. And these characters would of course give her a bigger reach among the audience, and a breather from a series of serious role. She could probably balance between the best of two worlds, rather than just a certain zone.
Better release schedule
Early in 2010s, Deepika proved that she can dabble multiple projects and yet bring her distinct identity to all the characters. But the process slowed down with every passing year, and from 2016 to 2020, the actress has made an appearance in just three films – XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, Padmaavat and Chhapaak. The gaps between her films is definitely a loophole at present, which she can spin into a positive by lining up her films better. And this has got to do with one of the weakness we stated above. Her biggest weakness is also the biggest opportunity, as better planning can ensure constant flow of releases and in turn, a bigger fan following. On the peak of her career, we got to see her in just two Hindi films (one of them being a rather small film like Chhapaak), in a span of 5 years. With long gaps, there always lies a risk of “out of sight, is out of mind” particularly in-case the films, despite longer breaks, don’t live upto the expectations. Though her future line up suggests that she has started working towards planning better with shorter gaps, we hope the flow of releases continues.
T: Threats
Social and media overexposure
Excess of anything becomes a threat, and Deepika has been all over the place in media and social media. The issue here is again about the word “planning”, as one can’t see consistency with respect to her social media posts. That aside, while it’s a fact that most of the producers want to cast Deepika in their feature films, the reports of “her rejecting the film” and “her being the first choice for the film” is bound to irk some people, and at times, even make others skeptical, as such news harm the future prospects of a film when it comes to casting. These are all industry conversations, and 90 on 100 of them don’t materialize. Hence, one expects them to be secrets, rather than them coming out in the open. This is probably a case of strategy gone wrong, and one can ask the team to be a little more careful. While news leaks are bound to happen (and they do happen for a reason from both the actors and producers end), one can take a cautious route, and ensure that some of the conversations do remain confidential, thereby not rubbing someone the wrong way. Remember, how Fighter with Hrithik Roshan took the social media by storm, and well, it was a secret?
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