"I'd rather have something that is my path, paved by me, something that is my legacy, my own self, my own achievement than being one of the many successful people in the world."
– Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra has indeed paved her own path, from a winning a beauty pageant at age of 18 to becoming India's highest-paid actress, to being honoured with Padma Shri by Government of India, to being featured in 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time magazine, and the list of accolades continue.
As an artist and an entrepreneur, there are numerous awards and accolades in her name, but she is more than that, her legacy is more than that, Priyanka's choices over the years is a proof of her life approach. But what makes her most aspirational person for many people across the globe is her personality. She carries confidence apart from two different perfumes, that allures everyone she meets. Chopra is building her empire with each step she takes but her journey has not been easy, it has been fraught with rejections, several flops and trials.
Priyanka was only eighteen years old when she was crowned as Miss World and was the talk of the town. For someone with small-town roots, Priyanka carried a huge level of values which is given, as both her parents were doctors who served in the army. Born on July 18, 1982, in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand to Madhu and Ashok Chopra, as a kid, Priyanka lived in several Indian states including Delhi, Chandigarh, Ambala, Ladakh, Lucknow, Bareilly and Pune.
But as a teen, she lived in the United States, after moving there to live with her aunt, where she clicked some random pictures posing and her mother took the liberty to send them to a beauty pageant. Well, rest is history. But during an interview, she shared, how she had to fake it till she made it when it was competing against her contemporaries in Miss India and Miss World pageants.
Priyanka would have thrived to be an engineer at NASA and the world would have known her with that legacy, but the change of plans after her pageant win led her to embark on an endeavour of Bollywood.
She was still a teen, but now Miss World considering Bollywood offers, while travelling alongside Juhu Beach, she looked at the billboards through the windshield and told her friends how she would feel successful if she would be on those billboards and years later, there she was, making true what she believed in.
"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," she is often quoted saying in interviews.
Although the plans of Priyanka's big debut against Booby Deol did not go as planned, Priyanks's Bollywood career started with The Hero: Love Story of a Spy in 2003 and the same year, she became a leading lady in the box-office hits Andaaz (2003) and Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004) and received critical acclaim for her breakout role in the 2004 thriller Aitraaz. Chopra established herself in India as a mainstream star as she appeared in more than 50 films and won 24 film awards including the Indian equivalent of an Oscar, which is pretty huge number especially when it is achieved in 20 years of being in the industry.
PARENTS: PILLARS OF STRENGTHS
As Priyanka made her name, it was her journey but it was backed by her parent's support who supported her with their physical presence and emotional support. Priyanka's father had only one condition to let join the Bollywood that was the support of her mother and she Madhu Chopra has not left the side of her daughter since then.
In 20 years of her career, Priyanka faced many ups and downs while she lived in an exclusive and affluent suburb of Mumbai popular with celebrities, but some of the most difficult times for her was losing her father as it would be for any daughter. She tattooed her the words "Daddy's Lil girl" in her father's handwriting on her right wrist in 2015 in his memory. Sadly her father lost a lengthy battle with cancer in 2013.
"I was very close to my father. Losing my dad changed me in a big way. I think it created a space in my heart which is empty, and it's always going to be. My dad was my biggest fan, my biggest supporter. He loved my achievements, he was a major achiever himself. He was a very creative person." Priyanka quoted in an interview
She added, "So just losing that and losing his insight on my life. I used to be angry with him after he died, I felt abandoned."
"Whether I'm coming to America, whether I go to India, I'm always true to just who I am."
Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka's first-ever audition was for Quantico, a US TV show. Yes, it is was first-ever time, she walked into a room and introduced herself, it indeed shows how celebrity has not let it get to her head. Quoting her from her interviews, we cannot ignore how Priyanka is candid about her thoughts and at the same time, she knows what she is saying.
"I'm not even Indian-American, I'm Indian-Indian. Everybody expected me to have henna and a nose pin and talk in an accent like Apu from The Simpsons. I was nervous because I wasn't sure if America was ready for a lead that looked like me." Priyanka shared in an interview
Well, she represented her roots and created global fame for herself with the success of her new TV series, Quantico, produced by the ABC network but filmed in Canada which revolved around a team of FBI cadets whose training class has been infiltrated by a terrorist.
Like every other celebrity, Priyanka's dating life was not always as private as it should have been. The rumours about who she is dating filled gossip columns, but not even she would have imagined that she would find love the way she did.
She did not flinch! Lesson well taught Priyanka.
"He slid into my DMs," Priyanka said on a popular American talk show when asked how she connected her current life partner and husband Nick Jonas. Both appeared in Met Gala together in 2016 but according to Priyanka, it was just a coincidence that both of them were wearing the same designer.
Even though one may find a contrast between the two, they both share a lot in common, including being exposed to media attention from a young age, love for family, love for pets, and passion for what they do. That is probably the key to how they make it work with their busy schedules and workaholic nature.
Priyanka, not only found love and married her Nick in 2018, but she also launched a dating app Bumble which was focused on helping two people find their partners while it allowed women to make the first move. "A social network by women, for everyone!" she shared in an interview.
Priyanka has shared in many interviews about her journey, now the actress has taken a new role. Yes, this time she is an author of her memoir, Unfinished. Back in 2018, she announced how she finally finished writing her book, and in August 2020, she took to her social media handle to announce the news and said that the "Unfinished is finished!" and that the book was written after a lot of 'introspection and reflection into (her) life'. Well, we are sure the book will be a best-seller as the response of her tweet became evidence of the same.
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