Not born with a silver spoon
Born to Dr Ashok Chopra and Dr Madhu Chopra in Jamshedpur, Bihar (present day Jharkhand), Priyanka wanted to be an aeronautical engineer until she won the Miss World pageant in the year 2000 and her life changed forever. Today, not only is she the most successful and one of the highest paid actors in the world, but she’s also a National Film Award winner along with five Filmfare Awards. In 2016, the Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri and Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in the next two years Forbes listed her among the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. During her teenage years in the United States, Priyanka Chopra faced racial issues and was bullied for being Indian by an African-American classmate. She once told a publication that, "I was a gawky kid, had low self-esteem, came from a modest middle-class background, had white marks on my legs. But I was damn hard working. Today, my legs sell 12 brands." After three years, Chopra returned to India, finishing the senior year of her high-school education at the Army Public School in Bareilly. She sports a tattoo on her hand that reads, “Daddy’s lil girl”. Dr Ashok Chopra passed away after battling cancer for five years in 2013.
Dirty Laundry, dignified demeanour
Priyanka’s personal life has been in the public eye for almost 20 years now. From her rumoured relationships with A-list Bollywood actors to brand endorsements, the woman has maintained a dignified demeanour throughout speculations, also withstanding the fact that it heavily cost her relationships with A-list producers and directors who stopped offering her work due to their close proximity with the actors in spotlight.
She moved to New York in a new apartment, bagged the role of Alex Parish in Quantico, launched her own music videos and songs, and the rest as we know is, a truly global Indian actor. Over the years, she braved all tough questions thrown at her and during Laura Brown’s chat show 'Dirty Laundry' she openly showed a jacket that she said belonged to her ex-boyfriend. She went on record to say, “I was a little unsure about this one, whether I should… But then your show is called dirty laundry so I thought I might as well.”
The 'Quantico' actress also revealed what makes this jacket so special for her, “This is a jacket that I literally live in. It’s my airport jacket, but it belonged to an ex-boyfriend. Things get exchanged. But this one I really really loved because it kind of became mine. It stopped being him like after it stayed back in my house once and I just kind of wore it. He asked for it and I said no. I was like ‘no’. That’s what happens in a relationship. Sorry!”
When Priyanka, like many other successful actors was at the peak of her career, she withdrew from Salman Khan’s ‘Bharat’ (the role later went onto Katrina Kaif) and married American singer - songwriter and actor Nick Jonas, a young heartthrob following Hindu and Christian customs in a big fat wedding in India. Chopra also shares a friendly relationship with the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle (she also attended the Royal wedding) and american actor and filmmaker Mindy Kailing.
A staunch supporter of human rights
Priyanka Chopra was appointed as Global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2016. Priyanka Chopra has now been associated with UNICEF for almost a decade and a half.
In a recent interview with The Sunday Times magazine, it was stated that “her actions carry weight”. The article spoke about her tryst with fighting gender pay gap and the origin of her association with launching the dating app, Bumble, where women make the first move. Her work to support women has been instrumental as she continues to donate 10 percent of her earnings to Priyanka Chopra Foundation for Health and Education, by taking medical care of 70 children, 50 of which are girls.
In the same interaction she also spoke about how her mother helped in broadening her perspective and withdrawing her endorsements of skin brightening cosmetics, as she herself promotes brown girls across the globe. PC has continued to be vocal even while being abroad, the most recent one being, the farmers protest in India. While the majority of Bollywood actors remain tight-lipped about anything remotely critical of the government, Chopra doesn’t hold herself back.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, the producer
Priyanka founded her production company, Purple Pebble Pictures (PPP) which has produced more than 10 films in four languages and web shows and won several accolades including three National Film Awards. In 2019, the company's fourth Marathi film, Paani won the National Film Award for Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation. The same year, the company released the biographical film The Sky Is Pink which received three Filmfare Awards nominations.
Priyanka was recently shooting in London during the lockdown. The salon that the actor visited earlier that week, during the Covid-19 lockdown in London, was fined by the police. After further review, the London salon that hosted actor Priyanka Chopra amid the Covid-19 lockdown in the UK was also fined.
Priyanka, in a statement via her representative, had earlier admitted to being in the salon, but explained that she had the ‘paperwork legally permitting her to be there’. Priyanka reportedly arrived at the salon with her mother, Dr Madhu Chopra, and pet dog Diana, on Wednesday. She went to get her hair coloured for her film, Text For You, which she is currently shooting for in London. Priyanka’s spokesperson said in a statement, “Following government guidance, Priyanka’s hair was coloured for the purpose of the film she is currently shooting in London. The salon was opened privately for the production and everyone involved had been tested and followed both the DCMS working guidelines and the film production regulations.``''As I am sure you are aware, film and TV production is permitted to continue in the UK, and locations can continue to accommodate shoots and recces (pre-filming visits) that are carried out in-line with government guidelines. The paperwork legally permitting her to be there was provided to the police, and they left satisfied,” the spokesperson said.
Net worth
Owing to her choices, her celebrity net worth is reported to be standing at a whopping $50million!” According to reports the People’s magazine bought the rights of the Priyanka-Nick wedding for a whopping USD 2.5 million (18 crores) making it one of the heavily monetised weddings ever. Priyanka’s social media game has been top notch, personal, effective, informative and entertaining at the same time, thanks to her PR team that makes her the most followed actress on Instagram at 59.6 Million followers.
20 years on…
Reacting to her Miss World title win, Priyanka recently reacted on Instagram. While watching this 20-year-old moment of being crowned, Priyanka said: "That was crazy. I never, ever expected to win. I wasn't supposed to. I had a train booked and I was supposed to go back and give my board exams. And I had a crown on my head. It was crazy. It's been 20 years and I haven't looked back up until now."
Memoir
Her autobiography, titled, ‘Unfinished, a memoir’ is all set to launch in February 2021. Sharing the first look, she wrote on Instagram, “Ironically, I named this memoir years before I started writing it. Having been a public person now for 20 years, with so much life to live and a long list of things to check off my list personally and professionally, I am very much #Unfinished. BUT the funny thing about writing a memoir is that it forces you to look at things differently, reconciling so many things you thought you had put to bed. In doing so I’ve realized that being “unfinished" has deeper meaning for me, and has in fact been one of the most common threads of my life.”
Priyanka’s upcoming projects
The White Tiger (22 Jan 2021 release - Netflix)
- Screen adaptation of a Man Booker Prize-winning novel
- A trailer that promises dark, gripping, edge-of-the-seat thrills
Text For You (Sony Pictures)
- Headlining the film with Sam Heughan (most popular for his role on Outlander)
- Her first lead role in a mainstream Hollywood film
- Film also stars music icon and five-time Grammy award winner Celine Deon in a crucial role
Ma Anand Sheela biopic (Amazon Studios)
- Will see Priyanka at her genre best: drama
- Directed by Barry Levinson (His movies have received a total of 38 Oscar nominations and 6 wins)
- Script written by Nick Yarborough who is writing the Training Day prequel for Warner Bros
Matrix 4 (April 1, 2022 release)
- Priyanka joining an iconic and highly successful franchise
- Will share screen space with Keanu Reeves & Neil Patrick Harris
Citadel (Amazon Studios)
- Global event series including stunt-filled action sequences with Priyanka back in an action avatar
- Developed by mainstream Hollywood's successful director duo: Russo brothers (Avengers & Captain America fame)
- Includes a writing team of Mission Impossible collaborators
- Described by Amazon as "groundbreaking global television franchise"
Untitled wedding comedy (Universal Studios)
- Co-producing with Mindy Kaling (The Office, The Mindy Project fame) and Dan Goor (Brooklyn 99, Parks and Recreation fame)
- Described as "Crazy Rich Asians" meets "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"
- Centered around an Indian wedding
Sangeet project (Amazon Studios)
- Exec co-producing with husband, Nick Jonas
-Centered around sangeet ceremonies (Indian pre-wedding tradition) and will be unscripted
- Idea stemmed from their own sangeet ceremony and will celebrate love and magic
