Priyanka Chopra, also known as PC (PeeCee), has won millions of hearts with her acting and charm. She is not only a fantastic actress but also an ambitious woman, an enthusiastic philanthropist, a brilliant producer, an engaging writer, and a popular style icon.
With all these distinct roles, she is also a determined daughter to her parents, a lovable sister to her brother – Siddharth, a faithful partner to Nick Jonas, and a proud mother of her daughter – Malti. Do you know that she is the first Indian actress to be featured in a school textbook? If you want to know some interesting facts about Priyanka, then read the following.
Family
Priyanka Chopra was born in Jamshedpur, Bihar (present-day Jharkhand) on 18 July 1982. Her father, Ashok Chopra, was a Punjabi Hindu from Ambala, and her mother, Madhu Chopra is from Jharkhand. Both her parents have served as physicians in the Indian Army. She has a younger brother, Siddharth Chopra, who is an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry. Her cousins, Parineeti Chopra, Mannara Chopra and Meera Chopra are also well-known in the movie industry. Her maternal grandfather was a former Congress veteran and her maternal grandmother was a former member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly.
Education
Since Priyanka’s parents were professionals in the military, they have to be posted at various places and thus Priyanka has studied in a number of schools including La Martiniere Girls' School, Lucknow and St. Maria Goretti College. Bareilly. She has stated that this frequent change in the location and the regular travelling have never bothered her. She enjoyed this as a new experience in her life. and loved to discover the multicultural society of India. At the age of 13, Priyanka moved to the US for further studies and lived with her aunt. Her aunt also moved frequently so Priyanka has attended schools in various cities like Queens, Newton, and Cedar Rapids. There, she took part in various theatre productions and also studied Western Classical music as well as choral singing. She then returned to India after three years and completed her senior year of high school at the Army Public School, Bareilly.
Movie Career
At a very young age, Priyanka became the local May Queen beauty pageant. Overwhelmed by this, her mother entered her into the “Femina Miss India contest of 2000”. She finished second and won the “Femina Miss India World” title. She also won the “Miss World” pageant and was crowned “Miss World 2000” and “Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty—Asia & Oceania” at the Millennium Dome in London in 2000. Priyanka also became the fifth Indian to win Miss World. After such great recognition, she got offered many roles in films and eventually stepped into the movie industry.
The Big Beginning
Priyanka got huge recognition after being the “Miss World 2000”. She also got many offers from various film producers to be cast in their movies. She was cast in the 2002 romantic thriller, “Humraaz”, for her debut in the Bollywood industry, but because of her other commitments, she was not able to shoot for the film. She made her debut in the film industry with the Tamil film “Thamizhan” in 2002. Priyanka made her Bollywood debut in 2003 with the movie “The Hero: Love Story of a Spy” in which she was cast alongside Preity Zinta and Sunny Deol. The movie received mixed reviews but turned out to be one of the highest-grossing movies of that year.
In the same year, she was cast opposite Akshay Kumar and Lara Dutta in “Andaaz”. She was highly praised for her role in this movie by various media houses and the audience. She also won the “Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut” for this role.
She appeared in some box-office failures like “Plan”, “Asambhav”, and “Kismat”. But fortunately, she also became part of the third highest-grossing film of 2004, “Mujhse Shaadi Karogi”, along with Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. Later that year, she was cast alongside Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor in the romantic thriller “Aitraaz”. This was her first role as an antagonist and she was praised a lot for this. She also considers this role one of the biggest learning experiences of her career in the industry. This special role has also helped Priyanka to win a “Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role”.
The Highs and The Lows
Priyanka appeared in many movies during this era. She has been a part of some very amazing and brilliant movies as well as some unsuccessful movies. She started her 2005 with two box office failures “Blackmail” and “Karam”. But then she was cast in a commercially successful movie, “Waqt: The Race Against Time”, opposite Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. Later that year, she starred in “Yakeen” along with Arjun Rampal, and in “Barsaat” alongside Bipasha Basu and Bobby Deol. Both the films received mixed reviews but Priyanka got a great appraisal for her roles in these movies. In the same year, she appeared in “Bluffmaster!” co-star with Ritesh Deshmukh, Abhishek Bachchan, and Nana Patekar, which turned out to be a big success.
At the beginning of the year 2006, Priyanka appeared in the superhero film, “Krrish”, co-starring with Hrithik Roshan, Rekha and Naseeruddin Shah. The film turned out to be a box office hit and the second-highest-grossing movie of the year. Then she was cast in the romantic comedy “Aap Ki Khatir” along with Akshaye Khanna, Dino Morea, and Ameesha Patel. Both, the film and Priyanka’s performance, were failed to gain appreciation from the audience. Later that year, she appeared in the action thriller “Don” along with Shah Rukh Khan. For this movie, Priyanka got training in martial arts to perform her own stunts. She received great love and applause for the portrayal of her role in the film.
The Setbacks and The Advances
In 2007, Priyanka starred in a romantic comedy-drama, titled “Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love” opposite Salman Khan, and in “Big Brother”, opposite Sunny Deol, and both the films turned out to be commercial failures. In the following year, she played a double role in “Love Story 2050” opposite Harman Baweja. She portrayed a woman in the future as well as one in the past and dyed her hair twice for the distinction between both roles. Despite such great efforts, she failed to collect good reviews from the audience. Later she appeared opposite Salman Khan and Sohail Khan along with Amitabh Bachchan in “God Tussi Great Ho”. Priyanka also played lead roles in “Chamku” and “Drona” in the same year, but both of these films failed at the box office.
Priyanka’s streak of failed movies broke when she was cast in the drama, “Fashion” along with Kangana Ranaut and Mugdha Godse. She first gained weight and then steadily lose it too to portray her character with perfection. Her performance in the movie was so brilliant that she won various awards in the Best Actress category including the Filmfare and the IIFA. This was an extraordinary women-centric film with a female protagonist and no male lead. Another outstanding movie of that year starring Priyanka was “Dostana” in which she was cast alongside Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham. The movie turned out to be a huge financial success and Priyanka was highly praised for her performance.
The Experimentation
After the great success of the last few movies, Priyanka started to experiment with her roles. She signed for the caper thriller “Kaminey” opposite Shahid Kapoor in which she portrayed a feisty Marathi woman. The movie was successful at the box office and Priyanka was greatly appreciated for her acting. She was considered a new personality during this film and became one of the most loved characters in the movie. In 2009, she also appeared in the romantic comedy “What's Your Raashee?” in which she portrayed twelve different roles based on twelve Zodiac signs.
This movie helped her to enter her name in the book of Guinness World Records for becoming the first film actress to portray twelve different roles in a single movie. Other movies starring Priyanka during that time include “Pyaar Impossible!”, “Anjaana Anjaani”, “7 Khoon Maaf”, and “Don”. The roles played by Priyanka in these movies were unconventional and she gained huge recognition for her work.
The Success
At the beginning of the year 2012, Priyanka appeared in “Agneepath” opposite Hrithik Roshan, Rishi Kapoor, and Sanjay Dutt. She was praised for standing out in a male-dominated film and earned great love from the audience. The movie turned out to be Bollywood’s highest opening-day earning film and broke all the previous records. Later, Priyanka reunited with Shahid Kapoor in “Teri Meri Kahaani” to portray the stories of three unconnected couples. At the end of 2012, she appeared in Anurag Basu’s “Barfi” along with Ranbir Kapoor and Ileana D’Cruz. In this movie, she fantastically played the role of an autistic woman who falls in love with the deaf and dumb man portrayed by Ranbir. Her representation of autism was considered to be the best in Indian cinema. These two movies were among the highest-grossing films of that year.
In 2013, she played the lead roles in “Zanjeer” and “Krrish 3”. She also appeared in “Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela”, starring Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, for the song "Ram Chahe Leela". In the following year, she was cast in “Gunday”, a film set in the 1970s, the story of two best friends portrayed by Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor. Later in the same year, she portrayed Mary Kom, the five-time world boxing champion and Olympics bronze medallist, in the movie with her name “Mary Kom”. The movie received great love and got premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival bringing more recognition to Priyanka’s work.
The Great Expansion
In 2015, Priyanka got the chance to work in an ensemble comedy-drama, “Dil Dhadakne Do” alongside Shefali Shah, Anil Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh, and Farhan Akhtar. Her efforts in the film were highly appreciated and the entire cast won the Screen Award for Best Ensemble Cast. She was also cast as Alex Parrish in the American thriller series “Quantico” and became the first South Asian to headline an American network drama series. She was applauded by the American media for her performance in the series. Later that year, she portrayed Kashibai, the first wife of Peshwa Bajirao I, in the historical romantic drama “Bajirao Mastani”. She received immense love from the audience and her role in the movie was considered the best to date. Her performance in this film was so amazing that she won Filmfare, IIFA, and Screen Awards for Best Supporting Actress and various nominations too.
In 2016, she made her Hollywood live-action film debut in “Baywatch” opposite Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. Later in 2018, she got cast for another American film, “A Kid Like Jake”, for which she was commended as a charming presence. Then in 2019, she played a supporting role in the comedy “Isn't It Romantic” and received great appreciation. In 2019, Priyanka returned to Indian Cinema with the biographical drama “The Sky is Pink”. She portrayed the mother of Aisha Chaudhary, a teenager suffering from a terminal illness but unfortunately, the film failed to perform well in the Bollywood industry.
OTT and The Upcoming
Priyanka began her 2020 by portraying Ms Granada in the Netflix kids’ superhero movie “We Can Be Heroes”. Her performance got positive reviews and was praised for her skills. In the following year, she was cast in the movie adaptation of a satirical novel, “The White Tiger” alongside Adarsh Gourav and Rajkummar Rao. Later in the same year, she appeared in a supporting role in the American Science fiction “The Matrix Resurrections” and earned great admiration.
In 2023, she will be seen in the lead role in the romantic comedy “Love Again” along with Sam Heughan and Celine Dion. She will also appear in Amazon Prime Video’s thriller series, “Citadel”.
Top Priyanka Chopra Movies
Priyanka Chopra has been a part of numerous movies. Some of them turned out to be big hits while some did not perform well at the box office. Let’s have a look at some of the top Priyanka movies.
| # | Movie Name | Releasing Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andaaz | 2003 |
| 2 | Mujhse Shaadi Karogi | 2004 |
| 3 | Aitraaz | 2004 |
| 4 | Waqt – Race Against Time | 2005 |
| 5 | Bluffmaster | 2005 |
| 6 | Krrish | 2006 |
| 7 | Don – The Chase Begins Again | 2006 |
| 8 | Fashion | 2008 |
| 9 | Dostana | 2008 |
| 10 | Kaminey | 2009 |
| 11 | Anjaana Anjaani | 2010 |
| 12 | Don 2 | 2011 |
| 13 | Agneepath | 2012 |
| 14 | Barfi! | 2012 |
| 15 | Krrish 3 | 2013 |
| 16 | Gunday | 2014 |
| 17 | Mary Kom | 2014 |
| 18 | Dil Dhadakne Do | 2015 |
| 19 | Bajirao Mastani | 2015 |
| 20 | A Kid Like Jake | 2018 |
| 21 | Isn't It Romantic | 2018 |
| 22 | We Can Be Heroes | 2020 |
| 23 | The White Tiger | 2021 |
| 24 | The Matrix Resurrections | 2021 |
Other Works
Priyanka Chopra is a multi-talented person and her charm is not limited to only acting and modelling. She is a fine singer, a fantastic producer, an enthusiastic entrepreneur as well as an outstanding writer. Following are the various areas in which Priyanka has spread her magic and earned great love.
Disney
In 2013, Priyanka dubbed the character of Ishaani, the reigning Pan-Asian champion from India in the Disneytoon Studios film “Planes”, a spinoff of Pixar's Cars franchise. Priyanka is a fan of Disney films and stated that it was a fun project. The film was a commercial success worldwide. In 2016, she dubbed “Kaa”, the female python in the OTT film “The Jungle Book”.
Music
Priyanka is also a very fine singer and has sung a lot of songs throughout her career. Her first playback was for her debut Tamil film, “Thamizhan”. Later in 2012, she got signed by the “Creative Artists Agency”, an American talent and sports Agency, and became the first Bollywood star to be signed by the agency. In that year, her first single, “In My City”, was released in the US which also featured American singer, rapper, and songwriter, “will.i.am”. This song received mixed reviews and was a commercial success in India. Priyanka won the Best International Debut award at the People's Choice Awards India for this single. She was also featured in the song “Erase” produced by the American DJ and the Chainsmokers.
In the year 2013, her second single was released under the title, “Exotic”, which featured the American rapper “Pitbull”. Her next single was “I Can't Make You Love Me" released in 2014 which received amazing reviews. Other than these American singles, she has also performed playback singing for a lullaby in “Mary Kom”. In 2015, she sang a duet with Farhan Akhtar for the movie “Dil Dhadakne Do”. In 2016, she recorded a promotional song in the Marathi language for the movie “Ventilator”. She also collaborated with the Australian DJ, “Will Sparks”, in 2017 for the EDM song “Young and Free”.
Production
In 2015, Priyanka established her production company, named “Purple Pebble Pictures”. Her aim for creating this company was to produce small-budget films and help new talents to introduce themselves in the Indian Film Industry. The first movie to be produced under this tag was the Marathi film, “Ventilator”, which turned out to be a box-office success and won several awards. She produced various Indian regional language movies such as “Pahuna: The Little Visitors” (Nepali) and “Paani” (Marathi).
Entrepreneurship
Priyanka Chopra has also invested in various tech companies, one of them being a coding education startup, “Holberton School”. The popular dating app, “Bumble”, was also launched in 2018 with the help of Priyanka. She looked forward to investing in Indian start-ups at the “Startup India Prarambh event 2021”. She has launched a haircare line called "Anamoly Haircare" which was initially available at Target stores in the US exclusively but later became available internationally. In 2021, she opened a new restaurant “Sona” in Manhattan to familiarize the locals with the top Indian Cuisine.
Writing
In 2009, Priyanka started writing an opinion column for the “Hindustan Times” and has written about 50 columns for the newspaper. Later that year, she also wrote a column for “The Times of India” discussing the murder of 25-year-old Pallavi Purkayastha, titled “No woman in Mumbai feels safe any longer”. In 2014, her article discussing female genital mutilation and child marriage got published in “The Guardian”. Later, in the same year, she wrote an op-ed for “The New York Times” about the importance of education for girls, titled “What Jane Austen Knew”. She also started writing a monthly column for “Elle” named “Pret-a-Priyanka”.
In 2015, she also wrote her first memoir, “Unfinished”, which was published by “Penguin Random House”. Her writing was greatly applauded as open, honest, engaging, and full of energy. Her Book reached “The New York Times Best Seller” list in the United States.
Achievements
Priyanka Chopra is a greatly talented and known celebrity who is also engaged in several social welfare activities. In 2017, she was honoured with the Power of Women award by “Variety” for her philanthropic work with UNICEF. She has received the “Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice” for her contribution towards several social causes. There is a long list of awards and achievements of Priyanka Chopra, let’s have a look at some of them.
| # | Award Name | Receiving Year | Received For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Femina Miss India Pageant | 2000 | _ |
| 2 | Miss World Pageant | 2000 | _ |
| 3 | Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty − Asia & Oceania Pageant | 2000 | _ |
| 4 | Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut | 2004 | Andaaz |
| 5 | Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role | 2005 | Aitraaz |
| 6 | Stardust Award for Superstar of Tomorrow – Female | 2005 | Mujhse Shaadi Karogi |
| 7 | IIFA Award for Best On-Screen Beauty | 2007 | Krrish |
| 8 | Global Indian Film Award for Most Searched Female Actor on the Internet | 2007 | _ |
| 9 | National Film Award for Best Actress | 2008 | Fashion |
| 10 | IIFA Award for Best Actress | 2009 | Fashion |
| 11 | Filmfare Award for Best Actress | 2009 | Fashion |
| 12 | Asian Film Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asian Cinema | 2009 | _ |
| 13 | "Golden Goblet" (Jin Jue) Award for Contribution to Cinema | 2009 | _ |
| 14 | FICCI Frames Excellence Honour for Most Powerful Entertainer of the Decade | 2009 | _ |
| 15 | BIG Star Entertainment Award for New Talent of the Decade – Female | 2010 | _ |
| 16 | Producers Guild Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role | 2010 | Kaminey |
| 17 | Indian Telly Award for Most Impactful Debut on Television | 2010 | Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi X 3 |
| 18 | IIFA Green Globe Award for Contribution to a Greener Earth | 2011 | _ |
| 19 | Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Critics) | 2012 | 7 Khoon Maaf |
| 20 | People's Choice Award (India) for Favourite International Music Debut | 2012 | In My City |
| 21 | Lions Gold Award for Favourite Actor in a Leading Role – Female | 2012 | Don 2 |
| 22 | Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Best Movie Actress | 2013 | Barfi! |
| 23 | Producers Guild Film Award for Star of the Year - Female | 2013 | Agneepath and Barfi! |
| 24 | Times of India Film Award for Best Actress | 2013 | Barfi! |
| 25 | Times of India Film Award for Best Actress | 2013 | Barfi! |
| 26 | IIFA Award for Woman of Substance | 2014 | _ |
| 27 | Stardust Award for Best Actress – Drama | 2014 | Mary Kom |
| 28 | MTV Europe Music Award for Best Indian Act | 2015 | _ |
| 29 | Producers Guild Film Award for Hindustan Times Celebrity for a Cause | 2015 | _ |
| 30 | Padma Shri Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress | 2016 | Bajirao Mastani |
| 31 | IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress | 2016 | Bajirao Mastani |
| 32 | Times of India Film Award for Best Supporting Actress | 2016 | Bajirao Mastani |
| 33 | Screen Award for Best Ensemble Cast | 2016 | Dil Dhadakne Do |
| 34 | People's Choice Award for Favorite Actress In A New TV Series | 2016 | Quantico |
| 35 | IIFA Award for Woman of the Year | 2016 | _ |
| 36 | Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice | 2017 | _ |
| 37 | People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic TV Actress | 2017 | Quantico |
| 38 | Lions Gold Award for Favourite Marathi Film | 2017 | Ventilator |
| 39 | National Film Award for Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation | 2019 | Paani |
| 40 | UNICEF Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award | 2019 | _ |
| 41 | Golden Book Award for Best Book | 2012 | Book- Unfinished |
Social Work
Priyanka Chopra is a philanthropist along with being a fantastic actress. She supports health and education for children and various issues related to women in India. She can be frequently seen speaking about women’s issues like female infanticide and foeticide, education for girls, feminism, gender right and equality, equal pay, etc.
Health and Education for Children
Priyanka has established “The Priyanka Chopra Foundation for Health and Education” to support unprivileged children all over the nation in Education and Health sector by contributing 10% of her earnings to them. She has also worked with UNICEF to promote children’s rights and female education. She participated in the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the “Convention on the Rights of the Child”. In 2009, she took participation in the charity fashion show organised by Manish Malhotra and Shaina NC. In the following year, she became one of the celebrities to create promotional messages for “Pearls Wave Trust” to campaign against violence and abuse of women and girls.
In 2010, she was also appointed as the “National UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights”. Priyanka has also launched a campaign named “Save the Girl Child” to bring change to the attitudes of Indians towards girls. In 2012, Priyanka launched an anti-addiction programme for youth.
Environmentalist
Priyanka also supports environmental causes and is the brand ambassador for NDTV’s “Greenathon”, which aims to provide solar power to rural villages. She has adopted several villages to provide them with a regular supply of electricity. She has also removed rubbish from the banks of the Yamuna River, adopted a tigress in 2011 and a lioness in 2012, pledged to donate her organs after her death, donated ₹5 million to the Nanavati hospital to build a cancer ward, and has been a part of many such social welfares and environmental awareness activities.
Priyanka Chopra was also one of the nine nominees selected as “Navratna” by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”. In 2016, she was appointed as the “Global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador”. In 2019, she collaborated with the “UN Children’s Fund” and the “Crocs Company” to donate 50,000 pairs of shoes to deserving school children in Central America. In 2021, she launched a fundraiser event for supporting India during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal Life
Priyanka Chopra is very close to her family and has a strong relationship with them. She lives on the same floor in an apartment with her family. She is a Hindu and performs Puja every morning at a small shrine consisting of various murtis of Hindu deities and carries it with her everywhere she travels. In 2018, she started dating the American actor Nick Jonas and later, in the same year, the couple got engaged in a Punjabi Roka ceremony in Mumbai. In December 2018, they got married at Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur in the traditional Hindu as well as Christian ceremonies. After this dream marriage, she legally changed her name to Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The couple is also blessed with a baby girl, Malti, in 2022 via surrogacy.
Social Image
Priyanka Chopra is one of the most popular celebrities in the world. She is the first Indian model to represent “Guess” and also the first prominent Indian actress to be featured in a school textbook. There have been three unauthorized biographies published on Priyanka, namely “Priyanka Chopra: Road To Destiny” by Indu Prabhu in 2016, “Priyanka Chopra: The Incredible Story of a Global Bollywood Star” by Aseem Chhabra in 2018 and “Priyanka Chopra: The Dark Horse” by Bharathi S. Pradhan in 2018. Other than this, she is a highly loved and one of the top-ranked celebrities in local as well as international media.
In Media
Priyanka Chopra has always been nice to the media and is nick-named “PeeCee” or “PC”. In the year 2011, she was named “India’s Best-Dressed Woman of the Year" by “People India”. In 2012, she was acknowledged as the most influential Indian on social media and in 2015 she ranked first among Indians in the list of “100 most Influential Women on Twitter” published by “HuffPost”. CNN-IBN has described her as one of the most powerful actresses and the “Bollywood Hungama” stated that she has reflected constant growth in her performance with every year passing. “The Times of India” has also called her a “game changer” for her acting skills. She has been listed on top of various lists of the most attractive, sexiest, and most beautiful women in the world. “Eastern Eye” has ranked her first in the list of “World's Sexiest Asian Women” for a record five times. In 2017, she was named the second Most Beautiful Woman in the world, after Beyonce.
Priyanka was also featured in the list of Most Powerful Indian Women various times by “Verve”, and “India Today” as well as by “The Indian Express”. Since she is frequently involved in the American film industry, she has also been featured in various American newspapers as well as magazines like “People”, “Time”, “Variety”, and “USA Today”. The popular American business magazine, “Forbes”, has also listed her among the World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2017 and 2018.
Brand Endorsements
She is also one of the highest-paid Indian celebrities and was ranked second in the list of Brand Ambassadors of 2008 only after Shah Rukh Khan. She has represented many brands such as Pepsi, TAG Heuer, Garnier, Nikon, Nestlé, Pantene, and Nokia, and also became the first female representative of Hero Honda. She is also the first Indian actress to cast her foot impression at the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum in Italy. Madame Tussauds Museum has installed four wax sculptures of Priyanka at four different locations (New York, London, Sydney, and a travelling exhibit between several Asian cities), making her the first Indian actor to do so.
Summing Up
Priyanka is one of the most high-profile and popular celebrities in India and is considered a style icon. She is not only a famous Indian celebrity but also a well-known international personality. She is the tenth most-followed Indian on Twitter and the most-followed Asian woman as well as one of the most-followed people on Instagram. There are millions of national and international fans of Priyanka who appraise her from the depth of their hearts. She is a self-made woman with no past connections to the film industry. She has worked hard in taking her name this far. Priyanka is a truly inspiring figure and one can learn a lot from her life.
