Anisha Padukone

Anisha Padukone was born on February 2, 1991, in Bangalore, India to Prakash Padukone and Ujjala Padukone. Her father is a former professional badminton player. Her paternal grandfather, Ramesh Padukone, was a secretary of the Mysore Badminton Association. Her older sister, Deepika Padukone, is a famous Bollywood star. Like her sister, she attended Sophia High School in Bangalore and later completed higher studies in Psychology, Sociology and Economics from Mount Carmel College. Both she and her elder sister participated in sports from an early age and later played competitively. She played basketball, cricket, hockey, tennis and badminton before committing to a career in golf. She is a die-hard fan of Roger Federer and Tiger Woods, and appreciates the fighting spirit of Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal. While not traveling, she resides with her parents at their house in Bangalore.

Being born to one of the best badminton players in the country, both Anisha Padukone and her older sister Deepika underwent athletic training since they were little children. While her sister, who used to play badminton like her father, later switched to modeling and acting, Anisha had decided on a sports career by the time she was 10.

During her early life, she was interested in basketball, which she played at the state level, and cricket, which she played in the national level. However, she eventually changed focus to golf and went on to represent India at international golf events. While she has made a name for herself by consistently ranking among the top ten amateur golfers in the country, it is no secret that her sports fame often gets overshadowed by her elder sister's fame as a Bollywood leading lady. Thankfully, when 'The Bangalore Mirror' published an interview of her focusing on her career achievements and titled it as 'The other Padukone', it was her sister who came fast to criticize the newspaper for belittling her success as a sportsperson and corrected the title as ''The' Padukone'.

Despite being born to a famous father, Anisha initially found it hard to adjust to all the new attention she got as the sister of Deepika Padukone after Deepika became a Bollywood actress. However, thanks to a close friend of her, she realized her vantage point and became more comfortable with it. While she still prefers to live a quieter life than her elder sister, she has nevertheless managed to amass decent following on Instagram and Twitter.

Anisha Padukone's involvement with mental well-being comes from a very personal experience that she had witnessed after her elder sister began suffering from anxiety and depression in the early 2014. Deepika, who has been very vocal about her own plight, revealed to the press that she had felt a "strange emptiness" in her stomach and found it difficult to get out of bed during the shooting of the film 'Happy New Year'. Anisha later told in an interview that she felt helpless at her sister's suffering as she did not know what to do. Fortunately, their mother came to the rescue and arranged for her to seek the help of a counselor, who was also a family friend. Anisha herself had also gone through depression after she failed to achieve the professional goals she had set for herself and felt choked under the weight of a famous surname. Thankfully, after her sister launched the Live Love Laugh Foundation in 2015, she was able to take her mind off golf and contribute as the director of the organization. A first-hand witness of mental illness, she is a strong advocate of mental well-being and is determined to make a positive influence in the lives of people suffering from depression and anxiety.