“This is India’s moment. So how can I marry the best of the East and the West?” said Deepika Padukone as she features on the cover of TIME magazine!

Someone who has constantly put India on the global map, Deepika Padukone recently made it to the elite club of global personalities who featured on the cover of TIME Magazine.

Becoming one of the rare Indian actors to feature on the cover of TIME, earlier graced by names like Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey, Deepika never aimed at taking India to the world but bringing the world to India.

The Numero Uno female star in the world’s most populous country, Deepika, explained, “My mission has always been to make a global impact while still being rooted in my country.”

A legend in her own right, who generated nearly $350 million in global box-office revenues, and today is the highest paid actress in India, Deepika talks about India’s growing influence in the world. She adds, “Indian cinema has transcended borders and Indians are everywhere, so the fame goes wherever you go.”

In Padukone, TIME Magazine sees a quiet trailblazer who makes her own rules, all the while embodying the feminine ideal that Bollywood wants to romance. She has emerged from the hopes and dreams of modern Indian women: someone with the utmost freedom to choose how she lives, works, and rests.

Ask the superstar what she hopes to achieve next, and she is quick to respond, “This is India’s moment. So how can I marry the best of the East and the West? There’s the India with our roots, our heritage, our history, but there’s also a new and young India that’s emerging.It’s these two Indias coming together that I find really fascinating at this moment.”