Priyanka Chopra: Bareilly's Girl Who Became A Global Icon

Priyanka Chopra birthday: When Priyanka Chopra made her debut in films, after winning the Miss World pageant, many rolled their eyes and dismissed her. Here’s another beauty queen who wants to be a Bollywood star. Little did her critics know that this young woman, whose smile was enough to distract you from her rookie performances, would go on to score a multimillion deal first-look deal with a major production house in Hollywood.

Chopra, who turns 39 on July 17, was born to physician parents Ashok and Madhu Chopra, both of whom served in the Indian Army. While she had to constantly shift base due to the nature of her parents’ job, Chopra considers Bareilly to be her hometown. At the age of 18, she was crowned Miss World. But her win came after a decade when Indian contestants like Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen and Yukta Mookhey had already brought glory to the country at various international pageants. What didn't help was the fact that she won her pageant in the same year that Dia Mirza was crowned Miss Asia-Pacific and Lara Dutta won the Miss Universe title.

Like her predecessors and fellow beauty queens, Chopra forayed into films, making her debut first down South with Thamizhan opposite Vijay, and then in Hindi films with Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta starrer The Hero: Love Story Of A Spy. What followed was a string of hit but forgettable films like Mujhse Shadi Karogi, Andaaz and flops like Plan and Kismet. And then came Aitraaz, a film which made people sit up and take notice of Chopra as a performer.

The career defining film for Chopra, however, was the 2008 film Fashion, that both earned her a Best Actress National Award and established her as a bankable star. After that, Chopra focused on striking balance between doing commercial films like Dostana, Mary Kom and Kaminey and performance driven roles like The Sky Is Pink, 7 Khoon Maaf and Barfi! There are very few women actors in Bollywood who can retain their bankability and stardom, while also honing their skills as an actor and Chopra is one of them. However, the girl from Bareilly refused to stop then and there. What’s next?

After dabbling with music singles like In My City and Exotic, Chopra decided to play to her strength to shape her career in the West. In 2015 she headlined ABC Network's show Quantico, which ran for three seasons- a first for any A-league Bollywood star. She went on to star in Hollywood films like Baywatch, A Kid Like Jake and Isn't It Romantic.

On personal front too life was flourishing for Chopra, as she found a partner in Jonas Brothers bandmate Nick Jonas. Jonas and Chopra tied the knot in 2018, in a lavish ceremony held at Udaipur. And yet, criticism wasn't far away. Her Hollywood stint has been mercilessly scrutinised, with people going to lengths of calling her a "Global scam artist" for marrying Jonas in a strategic move to further her career. Then there was the reverse age gap between the two, with Jonas being 10 years younger than her.

Talking about how the couple overcame the barrier of age, ethnicity and culture, Chopra said, "Nick took to India like a fish to water. But just like a normal couple, you have to understand each other’s habits and what each other likes. So it's more of an adventure than trying to figure out hurdles. None of it was really that hard."

Unfazed by critics, Chopra continues to power on. She turned into an entrepreneur, starting a restaurant in New York and launching a hair care brand. What's more, she is doing all this while working on upcoming projects like thriller series Citadel and a film on Ma Anand Sheela. She even found time to write a memoir.

Facing racism while studying in the US in her early life didn't stop her. Critics questioning performances didn't discourage her. People scrutinising her relationship and marriage didn't deter her. Priyanka Chopra looks beyond her critics and carries on, simply asking, what's next?

Views expressed are the author's own.

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Picture credit: Forbes India