20 Years of Aitraaz: When Priyanka Chopra Spoke About Her Role As 'Sexual Predator'

Exactly twenty years ago, Priyanka Chopra took on the bold role of a 'sexual predator' in Aitraaz, at just 21 years old and at the start of her Bollywood career. Released in 2004, the film also featured Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. However, it was Chopra's portrayal of Sonia that captivated both critics and audiences. Few could have predicted that the former Miss World would embrace such a challenging role as a female antagonist and deliver a performance that would be so widely praised.

For those who do not know, Aitraaz was a remake of the popular Hollywood film Disclosure, featuring Demi Moore and Michael Douglas in the lead. In the film, Chopra played the role of Sonia Mehra who files a sexual harassment case against her subordinate (also her former fiance) when he rebuffs her advances.

20 Years of Aitraaz: When Priyanka Chopra Spoke About Her Role as a 'Sexual Predator'

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Priyanka once revealed that when she chose to play a negative character, not everyone around her agreed with her "decision to do so. "At that time, big heroines who'd be in the mainstream commercial movies had to be a lot more coy, pure, good girls. Versus my character in Aitraaz, who was a bad bitch. At that time, it was a lot," she said.

She explained why it was uncanny for a woman her age and in her career point to play a negative role in the film. "Because my character was a sexual predator, and I was 21 or 22, and people were like, 'If you play such a sexually charged character, I don't know if your audience will be able to see you as the dream girl'."

In the film, Chopra played the role of "the girl you want to take to your bed". Not knowing what to expect, when her character got a positive response from the audience, she was "shocked." Chopra was amazed when the entire attention during the film's premiere was on her despite the film having a stellar star cast.

In 2020 too, the actor revisited her role in Aitraaz social media, writing on Instagram, "2004, one year into being an actor, I played Sonia Roy in the Abbas-Mustan thriller Aitraaz. It was by far the boldest part I had taken on, which was a big risk at the time since I was very new in the film business. I must admit I was scared as hell but the artist inside me was crying for a chance to do something interesting and Sonia was exactly that...wicked, predatory, complicated and self-serving for the most part, but also surprisingly vulnerable and emotional."

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