Padma Shri Priyanka Chopra. As a journalist addresses the Quantico star using the two new prefixes to her name, her eyes light up with an overwhelming kind of happiness. “I’m still processing that!” she says with a chuckle. Priyanka speaks to us cheerfully about taking a little Bollywood to Hollywood, introducing it to Indianness like it hadn’t seen before and more.
HONOUR AND RESPONSIBILITY
“I don’t think you need an award to remind you to be responsible,” she says in response to a question about whether being conferred with the Padma Shri has made her more aware of her responsibilities as an artiste. She affirms, “I’ve always been very responsible when it comes to my work. For me, the most important thing about this award is the fact that it is a form of recognition from my country and that is extremely special to me, especially since I’m the daughter of an army man. I cried a lot when I received the award, because I knew that my father would have been very happy if he were here today.
ON MERIT
Are there any people in Bollywood to whom she owes any portion of her meteoric success? “If you’re looking for me to give credit for my career to someone in the industry, then I’m sorry but I really can’t. I haven’t had anyone helping me along my journey and have got to where I stand today, on the basis of my own capabilities and hard work. My parents are the ones who have always stood by me through thick and thin, and my family helped me a lot,” she says.
“Having said that, I have worked with incredible filmmakers in Bollywood who have made me the actress that I am,” she asserts. Ask her if any other actress’ potential success in India as well as internationally has sharpened her competitive spirit and she responds with a wry smile, “I really have no time to track the careers of my fellow actresses in order to be able to compete with them. Besides, I don’t think anyone else’s success or failure is a reflection on my success or failure. Another actress experiencing failure will not make me more successful than I am!”
ON HOLLYWOOD
“Hollywood isn’t all that different from Bollywood when it comes to making films,” Priyanka points out while talking about her experience in the American film industry so far. “The real difference for me was television, really. The process of making a film — here or there — involves a much more languid approach to things, while TV is really fast and really hectic. For films, I feel like I’m in familiar territory… call sheets, call times, assistant directors outside your vans asking for you to come out. Also, I always turn up 15 minutes later than my call time, so in that sense I’ve taken a little Bollywood to Hollywood because now they’re all accustomed to the fact that Priyanka comes 15 minutes late to the set!” she chuckles and adds, “I’ve always lived my life on my own terms. I don’t believe in changing myself, no matter where I go. And because I’ve been trained in the biggest, most prolific film industry in the world, I never feel afraid or apprehensive in front of a camera.”
QUINTESSENTIALLY INDIAN
The actress also observes that the international film industry doesn’t understand India as well as it thinks it does. “I don’t think the world knows Indians very well. At least not who we really are! They have stereotyped ideas about how we talk, how we dress, how we behave… and it’s not that people don’t want to know. Everyone thinks India is all about meditation, yoga and spirituality. And we know that’s not true! I’m toh not at all yogi, for example, so I’m a bit of an anomaly to most people there. I make them wonder, yeh kaise ho gaya?
Even general viewers — they see me in Quantico, then they Google about me and then see my films… I’ve had so many people watch some of my Hindi movies online and then begin to really like Hindi movies in general because they discovered something different from what they were expecting!” she avers and adds, “I mean, of course, I can’t change everything — I’m just one girl! But I’m a very proud Indian and I take my Indianness with me wherever I go. I love achaar, for instance, and my achaar goes with everything, whether it’s a burger or spaghetti or a paratha and I eat it like that. I flaunt my Indianness, and through me people see more of India than they saw before. I’m not qualified enough to educate anyone about all of India, given how diverse India is… I mean, it’s a little world in itself.”
BUSINESS MATTERS
Responding to a question about whether we are presently in a phase that has a lot of potential for Indian actors finding work in Hollywood, Priyanka opines, “I don’t think it’s as simple as that. It’s business. The international market has opened up right now, that’s the main thing. For any industry, the domestic market is not the only source of revenue. That applies even to Bollywood — the international market is extremely important for us too. Similarly, for international industries, the global market is very important. Entertainment comes to you directly on your smartphone today — that’s the era we live in. And that makes international factors interesting.
That was what ABC did with me — they picked an international actor and positioned her the way she is used to being positioned internationally. Now, Quantico has gone to almost 120 territories and has been dubbed in 44 languages before we’ve even completed our first season! Personally, I think this is a great time for worlds to collide, and Indian talent needs to be seen.”
