Aneet Padda Steals Spotlight with Nervous Yet Stunning Runway Debut at Lakmé Fashion Week

Mumbai, October 13: Aneet Padda first walk at Lakmé Fashion Week × FDCI didn’t just turn heads it practically stopped the room. Under the spotlights, in a hand-embroidered Tarun Tahiliani gown, she looked every bit the new face Bollywood has been waiting for. The outfit, a soft gold saree-inspired gown drenched in Swarovski crystals, shimmered with every step she took.

Backstage, there was a different scene. Padda, 23, reportedly told the designer she was “shaking” before stepping out. Tahiliani later smiled about it, saying she had “the jitters, but the grace to match.” The crowd cheered anyway, though the internet, as always, had its own opinion.

Within minutes of her finale walk, clips of the performance were trending online. Fans flooded comment sections with heart emojis and words like “magical” and “divine.” Then came the critics. “Pretty face, stiff walk,” one tweet read. Another joked that her confidence “arrived halfway down the runway.” It’s the strange truth of stardom now applause and critique land at the same time.

When Old Words Return

Only days earlier, Padda had been caught in a different kind of spotlight. An old video from her early acting days resurfaced, with some accusing her of hurting Muslim sentiments. The short clip, taken from what appeared to be a spoken-word performance, quickly set off online debates.

Within hours, a counter-wave of support emerged. “It’s literally poetry,” one fan wrote, while others called out the outrage as misplaced. So far, no legal complaint has been filed, and the actress has stayed silent. For young stars in today’s climate, silence can be as strategic as a press statement.

The controversy may fade soon, but it showed how exposed new actors are not just to public reaction, but to the internet’s habit of dragging up the past at the worst possible moment.

A Long Climb To The Spotlight

If Padda seems too composed for her age, it’s because she’s earned it the hard way. Long before Saiyaara made her a household name, she was emailing production houses cold, trying to land auditions. In an interview earlier this year, she admitted she’d fallen for scam websites as a teenager. “I was 17, desperate to be seen, and too naïve to know what real auditions looked like,” she said.

Her first real break came with a small role in Salaam Venky (2022), followed by a lead in Amazon’s Big Girls Don’t Cry. Then came Saiyaara a romantic drama that turned her into the year’s breakout star. Even Alia Bhatt reportedly spent ten minutes praising her performance after watching the film.

According to The Economic Times, Padda next project is a romantic drama directed by Maneesh Sharma, backed by Aditya Chopra. It’s expected to go on floors in Punjab later this year. For a newcomer who once relied on cold emails, that’s a full-circle moment.

The Colleagues, The Cameras, The Constant Buzz

Inside the industry, Padda has already built a reputation for commitment. Actor Vishal Jethwa, her co-star in Saiyaara, recently said she “didn’t need glycerine” for emotional scenes. “She’d just cry on cue. You’d feel it,” he told The Times of India.

But when the lights are off, the scrutiny doesn’t stop. On her birthday last week, co-actor Ahaan Panday posted unseen photos from a Coldplay concert the two smiling, relaxed, clearly comfortable. That was enough to set off a small storm of dating rumors. Neither has confirmed anything, which only fuels the chatter.

Between Glamour And Grit

What’s striking about Padda current phase is how quickly she’s being pushed into multiple worlds at once. One week she’s defending a poem; the next she’s gliding down India’s biggest runway. She’s being praised for authenticity and critiqued for polish sometimes in the same sentence. That duality might actually be her strength. In an age when celebrity personas are curated within an inch of their lives, Padda still seems a little unvarnished, unsure, even awkward. It’s what makes people watch her.

As the crowd clapped at Lakmé’s finale, she smiled a little too widely, tripped slightly on her train, then steadied herself before striking the final pose. It was a moment that said everything about where she stands: halfway between discovery and arrival. Her rise is still fragile, but it’s real. And for a generation of dreamers watching her go from scam auditions to Swarovski gowns, that’s more than enough reason to root for her.

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Ayesha Khan

Entertainment Correspondent – Ayesha@hindustanherald.in – Web

Covers films, television, streaming, and celebrity culture with a focus on storytelling trends.

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