In 2018, during an interview on Koffee With Karan season 6, Priyanka Chopra confidently said she didn’t look up to any Bollywood star as her role model. This response stirred discussions because of her success in Hollywood with shows like Quantico and movies like A Kid Like Jake and Baywatch.
Priyanka Chopra represented India’s culture and language, especially Hindi, in the West. She chose roles that didn’t stereotype her as just an Indian or South Asian actress. Besides acting, she built her brand beyond Bollywood. Once she succeeded in the West, she felt confident enough to talk openly about why she left Bollywood at the peak of her career. In recent interviews, she honestly talked about facing rejection due to politics and nepotism in the Hindi film industry.
Priyanka ventured into Hollywood as a singer and released songs like “In My City” and “Exotic” featuring Will.I.Am and Pitbull. In a chat with Dax Shepherd on his podcast Armchair Expert, she revealed being fed up with Bollywood’s politics and considered these songs as her pathway to America.
About Bollywood, she had said, “I was being pushed into a corner in the industry (Bollywood). I had people not casting me, I had beef with people, I am not good at playing that game, so I kind of was tired of the politics and I said I needed a break. This music thing gave me an opportunity to go into another part of the world, not crave for the movies I didn’t want to get, but I would require to schmooze certain clubs and cliques of people. It would require grovelling and I had worked a long time by then that I didn’t feel like I wanted to do it. So when this music thing came I was like ‘fu** it I’am going to America.”
Nepotism is a big issue in Bollywood, and Priyanka, with her 20-year career, acknowledged its impact. She told Dax Shepher during the chat, that not being from a film family made her anxious when her six movies didn’t do well. Unlike star kids, she had to work harder to get opportunities and wasn’t given chances just because of her connections.
“I was terrified when those 6 movies didn’t do well because I’m not a nepo baby. I didn’t have that kind of support that exists in a big way in Bollywood movies. You know they are multi-generational actors that come in and get multiple opportunities versus the ones that come in from outside. You don’t have your uncle making a movie for you just because your last one tanked, right? You have to get it, and you have to hustle for it,” she shared.
With her rapid success in the West, she is now involved in fewer Hindi film projects, if any. There were rumours about her leaving Farhan Akhtar’s film Jee Le Zaraa. Currently, she is busy filming another Hollywood movie called Heads of State with Idris Elba and John Cena.
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