Iconic Women

FROM CEOS AND POLITICIANS TO HUMANITARIANS AND ATHLETES, WE PROFILE 27 EXTRAORDINARY TRAILBLAZERS CREATING MAJOR CHANGE IN 2020.

The Producer Priyanka Chopra

Bollywood-turned-Hollywood actor and producer Priyanka Chopra is a role model for young women all over the globe. Named Miss World 2000, she proved she was much more than a beauty queen in her breakout role as FBI agent-in-training Alex Parrish on the hit series Quantico. Here, she was the first Indian actor to ever lead a drama series on American television. In 2017, she made her big-screen debut in the US as the devious Victoria Leeds in the Baywatch remake alongside Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Zac Efron.

Chopra has won an array of awards in recognition of her talent throughout her career, including Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Debut and Best Villain. She has even been named among Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and Forbes’ World’s Most Powerful Women in 2018.

However, her success hasn’t come easy. This go-getter has worked tirelessly and sacrificed much while trailblazing her own path to superstardom. “There’s no free lunch in the world,” she told Press Trust of India. “It takes dedication, hard work and perseverance. And I’ve never been afraid of that.”

In fact, that grit was a motivator behind founding Purple Pebble Pictures (PPP). Chopra created this Mumbai-based production house with her mother to help emerging Indian filmmakers and talent realise their dreams. Her recent production called Firebrand, about a woman with PTSD, premiered on Netflix last year. It was a victory for both Netflix, for promoting diversity on its global platform, and for PPP, for launching its first ever digital venture.