Priyanka Chopra Biography – an Indian actress and Miss World 2000

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Real Name:	Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Profession:	Indian actress
Birthplace:	Jamshedpur, Bihar (present-day Jharkhand), India
Spouse:	Nick Jonas
Age:	40

Priyanka Chopra Jonas ((born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is one of India’s highest-paid actresses and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards. In 2016, the Government of India honored her with the Padma Shri, and Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In the next two years, Forbes listed her among the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, and in 2022, she was named in the BBC 100 Women list.

Chopra accepted offers to join the Indian film industry following her pageant wins. Her acting debut came in the Tamil film Thamizhan (2002), followed by her first Bollywood feature in The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003). She played the leading lady in the box-office hits Andaaz (2003) and Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004) and had her breakout role in the 2004 romantic thriller Aitraaz. Chopra established herself with starring roles in the top-grossing productions Krrish and Don (both 2006) and later reprised her role in their sequels. For playing a troubled model in the drama Fashion (2008), Chopra won a National Film Award and a Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Chopra gained further praise for portraying a range of characters in the films Kaminey (2009), 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), and Barfi! (2012), Mary Kom (2014), and Bajirao Mastani (2015).

From 2015 to 2018, Chopra starred as Alex Parrish in the ABC thriller series Quantico, becoming the first South Asian to headline an American network drama series. Founding the production company Purple Pebble Pictures in 2015, she produced several films under it, including the Marathi films Ventilator (2016) and Paani (2019), and the Hindi biopic The Sky Is Pink (2019). Chopra has acted in Hollywood films, such as Baywatch (2017), Isn’t It Romantic (2019), The White Tiger (2021), and The Matrix Resurrections (2021). She ventured into music by releasing three singles and into writing with her memoir Unfinished (2021), which reached The New York Times Best Seller list.

Chopra’s other ventures include tech investments, a haircare brand, a restaurant, and a homeware line. She promotes social causes such as environment and women’s rights and is vocal about gender equality, the gender pay gap, and feminism. She has worked with UNICEF since 2006 and was appointed as the national and global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for child rights in 2010 and 2016, respectively. Her namesake foundation for health and education works towards providing support to underprivileged Indian children. Despite maintaining privacy, Chopra’s off-screen life, including her marriage to American singer and actor Nick Jonas, is the subject of substantial media coverage. The couple has one daughter. On Instagram, Chopra is the most followed Indian actor.

Priyanka Chopra Biography
Born	18 July 1982 (age 40) Jamshedpur, Bihar (present-day Jharkhand), India
Other names	Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Occupations	Actress producer
Years active	2002–present
Works	Full list
Title	Miss World 2000
Spouse	Nick Jonas (m. 2018)​
Children	1
Relatives	Jonas Brothers
Awards	Full list
Honours	Padma Shri (2016)
Signature

Early life (Priyanka Chopra Biography)

Chopra was born on 18 July 1982 in Jamshedpur, Bihar (present-day Jharkhand), to Ashok and Madhu Chopra, both physicians in the Indian Army. Her father was a Punjabi Hindu from Ambala. Her mother, Madhu Chopra from Jharkhand is the eldest daughter of Dr. Manohar Kishan Akhouri, a former Congress veteran, and Madhu Jyotsna Akhouri, a former member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly.

Chopra’s maternal grandmother, Mrs. Akhouri, was a Malayali Jacobite Syrian Christian originally named Mary John, belonging to the Kavalappara family of Kumarakom, Kottayam district, Kerala. Chopra has a brother, Siddharth, who is seven years her junior. Bollywood actresses Parineeti Chopra, Meera Chopra, and Mannara Chopra are cousins.

Owing to Chopra’s parents’ professions as military physicians, the family was posted in a number of places in India, including Delhi, Chandigarh, Ambala, Ladakh, Lucknow, Bareilly, and Pune. Among the schools she attended were La Martiniere Girls’ School in Lucknow and St. Maria Goretti College in Bareilly.

At 13, Chopra moved to the United States to study, living with her aunt, and attending schools in Newton, Massachusetts, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after a stop in Queens, New York, as her aunt’s family also moved frequently. While in Massachusetts, she participated in several theatre productions and studied Western classical music, and choral singing. During her teenage years in the United States, Chopra sometimes faced racial issues and was bullied for being Indian by an African-American classmate. She has said, “I was a gawky kid, had low self-esteem, came from a modest middle-class background, and 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.

During this period, Chopra won the local May Queen beauty pageant, after which she was pursued by admirers; her family equipped their home with bars for her protection. Her mother entered her in the Femina Miss India contest of 2000; she finished second, winning the Femina Miss India World title. Chopra next won the Miss World pageant, where she was crowned Miss World 2000 and Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty—Asia & Oceania at the Millennium Dome in London on 30 November 2000. Chopra was the fifth Indian contestant to win Miss World, and the fourth to do so within seven years. She had enrolled in college, but left after winning the Miss World pageant. Chopra said that Miss India and Miss World titles brought her recognition, and she began receiving offers for film roles.

Acting career (Priyanka Chopra Biography)

Career beginnings and breakthrough (2002–2004)

After winning Miss India World, Chopra was cast as the female lead in Abbas–Mustan‘s romantic thriller Humraaz (2002), in which she was to make her film debut. However, this fell through for various reasons: she stated the production conflicted with her schedule, while the producers said they recast because Chopra took on various other commitments. Her screen debut occurred in the 2002 Tamil film Thamizhan as the love interest of the protagonist, played by Vijay. A review published in The Hindu was appreciative of the film for its wit and dialogue; however, it felt that Chopra’s role was limited from an acting viewpoint.

In 2003, Chopra made her Bollywood film debut as the second female lead opposite Sunny Deol and Preity Zinta in Anil Sharma‘s The Hero: Love Story of a Spy. Set against the backdrop of the Indian Army in Kashmir, the film tells the story of a RAW agent’s fight against terrorism. The Hero emerged as one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films that year, but received mixed reviews from critics. Derek Elley from Variety said that “mega-looker Chopra makes a solid screen debut.” Later that year she appeared in Raj Kanwar’s box-office success Andaaz with Akshay Kumar, sharing the female lead with debutante Lara Dutta. Chopra played a vivacious young woman who falls in love with Kumar’s character. The Hindustan Times noted the glamour that she brought to the role; Kunal Shah of Sify praised her performance and stated she had “all the qualities to be a star.” Her performance earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut (along with Dutta) and a Best Supporting Actress nomination.

In late 2004, she starred opposite Kumar and Kareena Kapoor in Abbas–Mustan’s romantic thriller Aitraaz. Chopra considers her first role as an antagonist, portraying Soniya Roy, an ambitious woman who accuses her employee of sexual harassment, as the “biggest learning experience of her career”. The film was a critical and commercial success, and Chopra’s performance received critical acclaim. The Hindustan Times cited it as the film that changed her career significantly. A reviewer writing for the BBC said, “Aitraaz is Chopra’s film. As the deliciously wicked, gold-digging, scheming seductress, she chews up every scene she is in with her magnetic screen presence.” She won a Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role, becoming the second and final actress to win the award after Kajol (the category was discontinued in 2008). Chopra also received a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress, and the Producers Guild Film Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Rise to prominence (2005–2006)

In 2005, Chopra appeared in 6 films. Her first two releases, the action thrillers Blackmail and Karam, were critically and commercially unsuccessful. Shilpa Bharatan-Iyer of Rediff.com considered Blackmail to be a very predictable film and believed that her role as a police commissioner’s wife was very limited from an acting point of view. Her performance in Karam was better received, Subhash K. Jha wrote that Chopra “with her poised interpretation of high drama, flies high creating a character whose vulnerability and beauty are endorsed by both the inner and outer worlds created for her character.” Later that year Chopra played the wife of Akshay Kumar in Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s family drama Waqt: The Race Against Time, the story of a small businessman (played by Amitabh Bachchan) who, hiding his illness, wants to teach his irresponsible son some lessons before he dies. During production, Chopra revisited Leh, a favorite childhood haunt, for the shooting of the song “Subah Hogi”. She suffered an accident during the filming of the song “Do Me A Favour Let’s Play Holi” when she electrocuted herself, spending a day recovering in hospital. The film was well-received by critics and was a commercial success.

Chopra’s final release of 2006 was Farhan Akhtar‘s action-thriller Don (a remake of the 1978 film of the same name), with Shah Rukh Khan. Chopra portrayed Roma (played by Zeenat Aman in the original film), who joins the underworld to avenge Don for killing her brother. Chopra received martial arts training for her role in the movie and performed her own stunts. The film was declared a box-office success in India and overseas, with revenues of ₹1.05 billion (US$13 million). Raja Sen of Rediff.com found Chopra to be the film’s “big surprise”; he believed that Chopra convincingly portrayed Roma, “looking every bit the competent woman of action” and wrote “This is an actress willing to push herself, and has definite potential for screen magic. Not to mention a great smile.”

Setbacks and resurgence (2007–2008)

In 2007, Chopra had two leading roles. Her first film was Nikhil Advani’s Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love, a romantic comedy-drama in six chapters with an ensemble cast. She was featured opposite Salman Khan in the first chapter as Kamini, an item girl and aspiring actress who tries to land the lead role in a Karan Johar film with a publicity gimmick. Film critic Sukanya Verma praised her flair for comedy, especially her impressions of Meena Kumari, Nargis, and Madhubala. Both Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love and her next film, Big Brother, proved unsuccessful at the domestic box office.

Chopra’s final film of the year was Tarun Mansukhani’s romantic comedy Dostana, with Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham. Set in Miami, the film tells the story of a friendship between her character and two men who pretend to be gay to share an apartment with her. Chopra played a stylish young fashion-magazine editor Neha Melwani, who is trying to deal with professional pressures in her life. Produced by Dharma Productions, the film was a financial success with worldwide revenues of over ₹860 million (US$11 million). Chopra’s performance and look in the film were praised. For her performances in both Fashion and Dostana, she jointly won the Stardust Award for Actor of the Year – Female.

Experiment with unconventional roles (2009–2011)

In 2009, Chopra played a feisty Marathi woman named Sweety in Vishal Bhardwaj‘s caper thriller Kaminey (co-starring Shahid Kapoor), about twin brothers and the journey in their life linked with the underworld. The film received critical acclaim and became successful at the box office with worldwide gross earnings of ₹710 million (US$9 million). Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India thought that Chopra’s role completely reinvented her, and Rajeev Masand wrote: “Springing a delightful surprise in a smaller part is [Chopra], who sprinkles her lines with a smattering of fluent Marathi and emerges one of the film’s most lovable characters.” Raja Sen of Rediff.com named Chopra’s performance as the best by an actress that year. Her role earned her several awards and nominations, including a second consecutive Producers Guild Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role after Fashion and Best Actress nominations at the Filmfare, Screen, and IIFA awards.

Chopra’s final release of the year saw her reprising her role as Roma in the second installment of the Don franchise, Don 2. Although the film received mixed reviews, Chopra’s performance earned positive feedback from critics. According to The Express Tribune, “Chopra … seems to be the perfect choice for an action heroine. As you watch her effortlessly beat up some thugs in the movie, you come to the realization that she may be the first proper female action hero in Bollywood.” Don 2 was a major success in India and overseas, earning over ₹2.06 billion (US$26 million) worldwide.

Further success (2012–2014)

Chopra’s first film of 2012 was Karan Malhotra’s action drama Agneepath, in which she starred with Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, and Rishi Kapoor. Produced by Karan Johar, the film is a remake of his father’s 1990 production of the same name. In one of several accidents to happen during production, Chopra’s lehenga (a traditional skirt) caught fire while filming a sequence for an elaborate Ganpati festival song. She featured as Kaali Gawde, Roshan’s loquacious love interest in the film. Mayank Shekhar noted how much Chopra stood out in the male-dominated film. Agneepath broke Bollywood’s highest opening-day earnings record and had a worldwide gross of ₹1.93 billion (US$24 million). Chopra next co-starred with Shahid Kapoor in Kunal Kohli‘s romance, Teri Meri Kahaani. The film relates the stories of three unconnected couples (each played by Kapoor and Chopra), born in different eras.

In 2014, Chopra played the lead female role in Yash Raj Films’ romantic action drama Gunday directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, alongside Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, and Irrfan Khan. She portrayed Nandita, a cabaret dancer in Calcutta. Set in the 1970s, the film tells the story of two best friends who fall in love with Nandita. Gunday proved to be a box-office success, grossing over ₹1 billion (US$13 million) worldwide. Chopra next starred as the title character in Mary Kom, a biographical film of the five-time world boxing champion and Olympic bronze medalist Mary Kom. To prepare for the role, she spent time with Kom and received four months of boxing training. The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, received positive reviews from critics, and her performance received critical acclaim. Sudhish Kamath from The Hindu criticized the film’s screenplay but praised Chopra’s “knockout” performance, writing “The spirited actress rises above the material and makes us invest in her and does full justice to the spirit” of the boxer. The Indo-Asian News Service review noted the actress for expressing every shade of the character with “a pitch-perfect bravado”. Mary Kom emerged as a commercial success, with revenues of ₹1.04 billion (US$13 million) at the box office. She won the Screen Award for Best Actress, the Producers Guild Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and received another nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

Expansion into American film and television (2015–2019)

In 2015, Chopra starred in Zoya Akhtar‘s Dil Dhadakne Do, an ensemble comedy-drama alongside Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, and Farhan Akhtar. The film tells the story of a dysfunctional Punjabi family (the Mehras), who invite their family and friends on a cruise trip to celebrate their parents’ 30th wedding anniversary. She portrayed the role of Ayesha Mehra, a successful entrepreneur, and the eldest child. Pratim D. Gupta from The Telegraph wrote of Chopra, “From the proper body language to the measured speech […] shows the kind of depth she is able to bring to her lines and characters these days. Conversely, Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express commented that it was time for her “to be a little messy: all these not-a-hair-out-place roles are making her constrained.” The cast of Dil Dhadakne Do won the Screen Award for Best Ensemble Cast, and Chopra was nominated for a Screen Award, IIFA Award, and Producers Guild Film Award for Best Actress. In 2016, she dubbed Kaa, a female python, in the Hindi version of the film The Jungle Book.

In 2019, Chopra had another supporting part, as a yoga ambassador, in Todd Strauss-Schulson’s comedy Isn’t It Romantic, which starred Rebel Wilson. The film was well received by critics and grossed approximately $49 million at the North American box office. Dana Schwartz of Entertainment Weekly considered her to be “perfectly cast” but Benjamin Lee of The Guardian thought that she was “not quite interesting enough”. She returned to Hindi cinema later in 2019 with Shonali Bose’s biographical drama The Sky Is Pink, in which she played the mother to Aisha Chaudhary, a teenager suffering from a terminal illness. She also produced the project and connected with the story for its blend of humor and tragedy. Kate Erbland of IndieWire found her to be “extraordinary” as “the film’s driving force, a tough-talking mama bear”, and Anna M. M. Vetticad took note of the “simmering restraint” in her performance. The film did not do well at the box office. She received another nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

Streaming projects (2020–present)

Chopra’s only release in 2020 was the Netflix children’s superhero film We Can Be Heroes directed by Robert Rodriguez. She starred as Ms. Granada, the director of a superhero organization called Heroics. The feature received generally positive reviews; Richard Roeper from the Chicago Sun-Times praised the actress for “livening up the proceedings” as the strait-laced Ms. Granada and Ian Freer of the Empire magazine felt that she did the “kids’ film acting to the hilt”. Chopra’s first film of 2021 was Ramin Bahrani’s The White Tiger, an adaptation of Aravind Adiga’s satirical novel of the same name. She starred alongside Adarsh Gourav and Rajkummar Rao, and also executive produced this Netflix production. Critical reviews of the film and her performance were positive. Writing for The Times, film critic Kevin Maher deemed Chopra’s performance “impressive” and The Hollywood Reporter‘s David Rooney commended her for bringing “emotional depth” to her role. The film received a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the 93rd Academy Awards. Later that year, Chopra had a supporting role in the science fiction film The Matrix Resurrections.

Chopra will next star alongside Richard Madden in Amazon Prime Video’s thriller series Citadel. She will then lead the romantic comedy Love Again opposite Sam Heughan and Celine Dion. As a producer, she has signed a multimillion-dollar first-look TV deal with Amazon Prime Video to back content by first-time BIPOC and female filmmakers.

Music career (Priyanka Chopra Biography)

Chopra’s main vocal influence was her father, who helped develop her interest in singing. She used her vocal talent early in her pageantry career. Her first recording, the song “Ullathai Killathe” in the Tamil film Thamizhan (2002), was made at the urging of her director and co-star, Vijay (who had noticed her singing on the set). She declined to sing playback for “Tinka Tinka” in her film Karam (2005), preferring to concentrate on her acting career, but later sang the song live on the television program Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Chopra recorded an unreleased song for Bluffmaster! (2005). In August 2011, Universal Music Group signed Chopra to a worldwide recording agreement with DesiHits. The deal indicated that her first studio album would be released by Interscope Records in North America and by Island Records elsewhere.

In July 2013, Chopra released her second single “Exotic” featuring American rapper Pitbull, along with its music video. “Exotic” debuted at number 16 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs and number 11 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Songs chart in the 27 July 2013 issue. The single also entered number 74 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. “Exotic” debuted at number 44 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart and peaked at number 12. Her third single, a cover of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” was released in April 2014. The song peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

Chopra’s first song as a playback singer in Bollywood was “Chaoro”, a lullaby from Mary Kom (2014). In 2015, she sang the title song, a duet with Farhan Akhtar, for Dil Dhadakne Do. She recorded a promotional song for Ventilator (2016), making her Marathi language playback singing debut with “Baba“. In 2017, Chopra collaborated with the Australian DJ Will Sparks for “Young and Free”, an EDM song that she also wrote.

Philanthropy (Priyanka Chopra Biography)

Chopra supports various causes through her foundation “The Priyanka Chopra Foundation for Health and Education”, which works towards providing support to unprivileged children across the country in the areas of Education and Health. She donates ten percent of her earnings to fund the foundation’s operations and pays for educational and medical expenses for seventy children in India, fifty among whom are girls. She often speaks out on women’s issues: against female infanticide and foeticide, and in support of education for girls. A believer in feminism, Chopra has always been vocal about women’s rights, gender equality, and the gender pay gap. In 2006, a “day with Chopra” was auctioned on eBay; the proceeds were donated to an NGO, Nanhi Kali, which helps educate girls in India. She has made appearances in support of other charities, such as the 2005 HELP! Telethon Concert to raise funds for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

In December 2019, Chopra teamed up with the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Crocs Company to donate 50,000 pairs of shoes to deserving school children in the Central American country, Belize.

In late April 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, Chopra along with her husband Nick opened a fundraiser along with NGO GiveIndia to get donations for oxygen supply, COVID-19 care centers, testing, and vaccination efforts. The fundraiser achieved USD 400,000 in the first few days. Chopra’s brother-in-law Kevin Jonas also urged his followers to help donate to the fundraiser. By 13 May 2021, the fundraiser had achieved the $1 million landmark and put its newer target at $3 million for COVID-19 relief.

Other work (Priyanka Chopra Biography)

Film production and entrepreneurship

Chopra set up her production company Purple Pebble Pictures with the aim to produce small-budget films and introduce and promote new talent in the Indian film industry, particularly regional Indian films. Her first Marathi film, the 2016 comedy-drama Ventilator, was a box office success and went on to win three awards at the 64th National Film Awards. She went on to produce several Indian regional language films, including Pahuna: The Little Visitors (2018) and Paani (2019), which won the National Film Award for Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation at the 66th National Film Awards.

In March 2021, Chopra opened her new restaurant Sona in Manhattan, featuring haute-couture Indian cuisine.

Television presenting and stage performances

In 2007, Chopra was on the judges’ panel of the Miss India pageant. She stated, “Miss India will always remain special. That’s where it all started for me. And maybe that’s where it would’ve ended if I hadn’t won the crown.” She also served as a judge at Miss World 2009. She visited Jawan troops in Tenga, in eastern India, for a special episode of the NDTV shows Jai Jawan celebrating the 60th anniversary of India’s independence.

Chopra has participated in a number of world tours and concerts. She took part in a world concert tour, “Temptations 2004”, and performed with other Bollywood actors (including Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, and Arjun Rampal) in 19 stage shows. In 2011, she participated (with Shahid Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan) in a concert in Durban, South Africa celebrating 150 years of India–South Africa friendship. In 2012, she performed at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai in the opening ceremony of the fifth season of cricket’s Indian Premier League with Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, and Katy Perry. The same year, she performed at Dubai Festival City’s Ahlan Bollywood Concert with other Bollywood stars such as Salman Khan and Sophie Choudry.

In 2021, Chopra along with her husband Nick Jonas announced the nominees for the 93rd Academy Awards.

Writing (Priyanka Chopra Biography)

Chopra began writing an opinion column for the Hindustan Times in 2009. She wrote a total of 50 columns for the newspaper. She said after her first year of writing: “I’m a private person and never thought that I could express my feelings. But strangely enough, whenever I sat down to write this column, my innermost thoughts came to the fore.” In March 2009, she met several readers who had submitted feedback on her weekly column. She continued to write sporadically for newspapers. In August 2012 she wrote a column published in The Times of India titled “No woman in Mumbai feels safe any longer”, discussing the murder of 25-year-old Pallavi Purkayastha, whom she met while working on Don. In the article, Chopra expressed her views about the safety of women in cities. In a July 2014 article published in The Guardian, Chopra criticized female genital mutilation and child marriage.

Personal life (Priyanka Chopra Biography)

Chopra has maintained a strong relationship with her family, including her younger brother, Siddharth, and lives in an apartment on the same floor as her family. She was especially close to her father, who died in June 2013; in 2012, she got a tattoo reading “Daddy’s lil girl” in his handwriting. Having not come from a film background, she describes herself as a self-made woman. Her mother, a well-established gynecologist in Bareilly, gave up her practice to support Chopra as she embarked upon a film career.

A practicing Hindu, Chopra performs a puja every morning at a small shrine consisting of various murtis of Hindu deities in her home, which she even travels with. Although she is known for her media-friendly attitude, Chopra is publicly reticent about her personal life. Chopra started dating American singer and actor, Nick Jonas in May 2018. Jonas proposed to her on 19 July 2018, a day after her birthday in Crete, Greece. Chopra and Jonas became engaged in August 2018 in a Punjabi Roka ceremony in Mumbai. In December 2018, the couple married at Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur in traditional Hindu and Christian ceremonies. Following the marriage, Chopra legally changed her full name to “Priyanka Chopra Jonas”. In January 2022, the couple had their first child, a girl, via surrogacy.

Public image (Priyanka Chopra Biography)

Chopra is known in the Indian media and film industry for her professionalism and is popularly referred to by the media and the film industry as “PeeCee”, “PC” and “Piggy Chops”. She has had a Twitter account since January 2009 and is the tenth most followed Indian on the platform. In 2012, she has declared the most influential Indian on social media in a survey conducted by Pinstorm, and in 2015, Chopra appeared in HuffPost‘s “100 Most Influential Women on Twitter” list, in which she was ranked first among Indians. She is the most followed Asian woman as well as one of the most-followed people on Instagram. Chopra is also the most followed and liked Indian actor on Facebook.

Remarking upon her role choices, CNN-IBN described Chopra as a powerful modern actress unafraid of experimenting with roles. Analysing Chopra’s career, Bollywood Hungama noted her constant growth as a performer despite career fluctuations. The Times of India called her a “game changer” for changing “the age-old demarcation between a hero and heroine”. In 2012, film critic Subhash K. Jha labeled her “the best actress in the post-Sridevi generation” and listed her character in Barfi! as being “one of the finest inwardly ravaged characters in Bollywood.” Chopra has often been featured on Rediff.com’s annual listing of “Bollywood’s Best Actresses”, ranking first in 2009, and was featured in their list of “Top 10 Actresses of 2000–2010”.

Chopra and three other Bollywood actors (Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, and Hrithik Roshan) had their likenesses made into a series of miniature dolls for U.S. toy manufacturer Hasbro and the UK-based Bollywood Legends Corporation. In 2009, Chopra became the first Indian actress to cast a foot impression at the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum in Florence, Italy, and she received custom-designed shoes from the Ferragamo house. Madame Tussauds museum installed four wax sculptures of her in 2019 at four locations, including New York, London, and Sydney, and a traveling exhibit between several Asian cities, making her the first Indian actor to have wax statues in four Madame Tussauds museums. In 2013, she became the first Indian model to represent Guess, whose CEO Paul Marciano called her “the young Sophia Loren“. Chopra’s life, pictures of her family, and win at the Miss World in 2000 were depicted in a chapter of Roving Families, Shifting Homes, a book taught at Springdale School. Three unauthorized biographies of her have been published: Indu Prabhu’s Priyanka Chopra: Road To Destiny (2016), Aseem Chhabra’s Priyanka Chopra: The Incredible Story of a Global Bollywood Star (2018), and Bharathi S. Pradhan’s Priyanka Chopra: The Dark Horse (2018).

Accolades (Priyanka Chopra Biography)

Chopra has won a National Film Award for Best Actress for Fashion (2008) and five Filmfare Awards: Best Female Debut for Andaaz (2003), Best Performance in a Negative Role for Aitraaz (2004), Best Actress for Fashion (2008), Critics Award for Best Actress for 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), and Best Supporting Actress for Bajirao Mastani (2015). She has also won two People’s Choice Awards: “Favourite Actress In A New TV Series”, and “Favorite Dramatic TV Actress” for Quantico. She is the first South Asian actress to win a People’s Choice Award. In 2016, she was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, by the Government of India for her contribution to arts and was honored as one of the BBC 100 Women in 2022.

Books

• Chopra, Priyanka (9 February 2021). Unfinished. New York: Penguin Random House.

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