Almost two decades before Bollywood megastar Deepika Padukone made her dramatic Bollywood acting debut, there was already another Padukone, distinguished senior film journalist and columnist Chaitanya Padukone.

Padukone is the only journalist ever to have had a personal rapport with the King of Bollywood Music - R D Burman for ten years (1983 to 1993). Besides chatting with RDB at film parties and movie premieres, music-savvy Chaitanya had the privilege of connecting with the legendary sangeetkaar RDB at his song and background recordings at Film Center. It is no wonder then that in 2016 he decided to make his literary debut by penning his memoirs on the maverick music icon, titled ‘RD Burmania: PanchaMemoirs’.  This book includes frank yet sentimental tributes to RDB, plus rare anecdotes from over 27 Bollywood celebs.

A regular at press conferences and Bollywood parties, Padukone has rubbed shoulders with the who’s who of Bollywood for over three decades and knows stories of the tinsel world that not many would know about.

With a large number of filmy scoops (breaking news) to his credit, Padukone is the recipient of the K.A. Abbas Memorial Gold Medal and Trophy, which was conferred on him for Excellence in Film Journalism by Amitabh Bachchan. He was also honored with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Award (2012) in the presence of Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan and other top Bollywood luminaries, for his outstanding contribution to showbiz journalism.

A former senior staff executive with HDFC Ltd (Home Loans), for over three decades, Padukone's  passion for journalism took off in his spare time which really didn’t affect his job.

Padukone has contributed celeb interviews, columns, for leading daily newspapers like Mid-Day, DNA - After Hrs, Afternoon Despatch & Courier and magazines too.

A distinguished alumnus of  St Xavier’s High School, Fort and student of Lala Lajpat Rai College of Commerce, Padukone did his post-graduate from Govt. Law College and Bombay College of Journalism (BCJ). With his seasoned journalistic experience, he was invited by top reputed colleges (including BCJ), as visiting faculty to teach film-journalism to post-graduate students. 

By Verus Ferreira