Priyanka Chopra on fame and being lonely

Most recently she hit headlines when she joined the likes of Claudia Schiffer, Adriana Lima and Kate Upton to become the new face of Guess clothing. Her stunning black and white ad campaign photos were taken by Canadian rock star and photographer Bryan Adams.

“Oh yeah, I’m just loving what I do,’’ says the 31-year-old star. “I love being creative. I love being an actor, I love writing, music... When do I relax and recharge? When I’m at work, the moment between ‘action’ and ‘cut’.’’

And how does she feel being right on top? “It’s lonely where I am but it’s incredibly satisfying,” she says.

Without doubt Priyanka is a phenomenon. Not content with being a Bollywood siren she’s signed a worldwide recording contract with Desi Hits and is being managed by the people behind Lady GaGa’s success.

After collaborating with Sam Watters, Matthew Koma and Jay Sean on her first music album – and debuting her first single In My City with rapper will.i.am on the NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football, guaranteeing instant chart success – for her new single, Exotic, she teamed up with American rapper Pitbull. Not bad for the girl from a backwater in Bareilly, a small town in India.

“Chopra’s confidence, strength and sensuality reflect the qualities I always look for in a model and she reminds me of a young Sophia Lauren,” Paul Marciano, CEO, creative director and co-founder of Guess, said of her. “With the Indian movie industry exploding on a global stage we could not have found a better global brand ambassador.”

Priyanka says she never really planned her career or her life and definitely did not set out to be an actor. “I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer. Going to Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US was my ambition in life,’’ she says. But she began to accept roles in Bollywood following her Miss World win and then, she says, “somewhere along the way I realised ‘Hey, I love doing what I do!’’’

The actress took a huge risk accepting a negative role in her very first film, Aithraz – something many Bollywood actors refuse for fear of being typecast or upsetting their fan base. Priyanka was praised by critics for her role as Sonia Roy, an ambitious woman who accuses her male employee of sexual harassment. But once that became a hit, there was no looking back. She was flooded with more offers and went on to do challenging roles including one in 7 Khoon Maaf – in which her character marries seven men and murders them all – and playing an autistic girl in Barfi!

A passion for helping others

As the Goodwill Ambassador for Unicef, Priyanka works tirelessly for the cause of girls in India. “I guess the passion for social responsibility was sown early in my life,’’ she says. Her parents, Ashok and Madhu Chopra, who were doctors in the Indian Army, would conduct medical camps in small villages that had no health-care facilities. “My job was to help the pharmacist hand out pills to the patients. I took my job very seriously,” she says.

When she turned 13, Priyanka was sent to live in Queens, New York, with an aunt so she could get an American education.

“I went from being this good Indian girl from a small town in India to being a soul sister in my head, complete with the braids, puffy jackets and gold hoops on my ears. I spent all my pocket money on clothes. I was a good girl but I still managed to give my family a few sleepless nights,’’ she revealed recently.

When she was 17, she returned to her family in India and, six months later, walked away with the Miss World title in 2000 at London’s Millennium Dome.

The title catapulted her to stardom and Bollywood, where she went on to win a clutch of awards, including one of the prestigious Filmfare awards, which recognise Bollywood films, while gaining millions of fans.

Today, she understands the power of stardom and wants to use it to make a difference. “It’s an important part of who I am. It’s a very individual thing, the feeling of giving back is very personal.”

“I started working when I was very young. My professional career started when I became Miss World and it’s not stopped since.

“I never went to acting school and had no one to guide me when I was 18 years old and in the movie business.’’

Does she believe she has competition? “I’m a person who competes with myself. And I try to better myself – with every film that I do, I want to do something that pushes me beyond myself as an actor and my comfort zone. I’m very proud of the films that I’m doing right now.”



Publicly loved, privately lonely

“But the good thing is that I was fortunate to work with some incredible, talented people.’’

While she gleaned valuable experience over the years, she says she hasn’t changed inside.

Ask Priyanka what she thinks makes her tick and she will say it’s her natural mix of East and West. “My go-to soul food is daal and rice or a double-baked cheeseburger. I am comfortable walking the red carpet in the latest haute couture and also in exquisite saris. My music box will pump out Rihanna but at the same time I also have the latest Bollywood chart-busters on it,” she says.

Priyanka is nothing but flexible. “I still don’t know who I am. I still don’t know what I’m going to do. Whether I’ll take the right step or not. Everything for me is an experiment. I never pick the safe option. I don’t know why I do that. I guess I’m the kind of person that the more difficult something is the more I want it.”

An actor who works hard on giving her best, she adds, “No work for me is big or small. Whether it’s an interview, a scene or a movie or my song. Everything for me is just as important.”

As for taking a holiday, she says she hasn’t had one in 16 years. “There are very few people in the world who get to do what they love to do. So why would I take a break?’’ she asks.

Does the small-town girl from the pre-Miss World days still lurk inside her somewhere? Or has she developed a taste for only the finer things? “I enjoy the little things in life,” she says. “Just as in the past, even today it’s the small things that make me happy.

“I always woke up in the morning and put on really loud music and danced in the shower and I still do. I was afraid that I might slip and fall in the bathroom, but that did not stop me from doing it.

So what’s her secret for living life to the fullest? “I like to push the envelope a little bit. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. When it works it’s fine, and when it doesn’t you have to get up, dust yourself off and try something else. I feel the world is my oyster and it should be for every young person.”

From the small town of Bareilly to Bollywood and beyond, Priyanka has made it big. Being an Indian means a great deal to her, she says. “I’m a middle-class girl from a small town in India and today I’m living the dream. It’s almost unbelievable for me – and I guess that proves everyone has a chance. If I can do it, then anybody can.”