Global Icon Priyanka Chopra Slays The West

Priyanka Chopra is a bestseller. World artiste, global goddess… but a desi girl at heart. Ashwini Deshmukh in conversation with India’s hottest export to the West.

- Ashwini Deshmukh

She prefers to wear her success as a T-shirt and not a tuxedo. She prefers casual over formal and that’s just the kind of cool disposition that makes Priyanka Chopra a sure-shot winner. Currently, she’s out making a mark in Hollywood. The West, East, North, South practically the entire globe is singing hosannas of her efforts on American TV with the Quantico series. And then there’s the much-anticipated Baywatch movie too. She’s not the first Indian girl to go to Hollywood, she’s certainly not the last but the frenzy she’s created with her transition to the US just sets her apart. Even though she’s a million miles away from home, leagues of her fans and her constant presence on Indian media – both conventional and social – makes her a true-blue superstar. 

She just might be India’s perfect ambassador to the world, after all, she considers it her responsibility to show the world a thing or two about Indian etiquette and grace. She’s showing them that Indian cinema does not function in Hollywood’s shadows. That’s Priyanka Chopra’s biggest triumph. She’s killing it, softly. A trait she reflects even in her interviews. She navigates through self-appraisal, controversy and pride with consummate ease. Matters of the heart or matters of showbiz, she tells all without making a noise. There’s something about Priyanka. She seems like a woman made to succeed. Someone who’s got it all figured out. Effortless, endearing and enigmatic as usual, this is Priyanka Chopra unplugged...

The past year brought in huge accolades in the US…. And a Padma Shri back home. How does it feel?