Will Smith, Emma Watson, Nina Dobrev and Kendall Jenner were all there at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, but Priyanka Chopra still managed to hold her own on the red carpet at one of Washington DC's biggest and most glamor ous galas in a sexy black Zuhair Murad gown with ruffles, sheer panels and a deep décolletage. “When in Rome do as the Romans do. I am an Indian in America so I decided to go with the attire of the people here and I'm glad that the gown has been appreciated and has made it to the best dressed lists,“ the actress exults from across seven seas.

Just a few weeks ago, PeeCee had made another style statement with a sun shine yellow hand-woven sari when accepting the Padma Shri. She admits that she is really fond of the sari and was happy to wear one when receiving the coveted national honour back home. “For me the biggest excitement was being at the Rashtrapati Bhavan with President Pranab Mukherjee and at the White House with President Barack Obama in the same month,“ she points out.

While she is not willing to talk about her interactions with the Hollywood A-listers, she is happy to discuss the charming Obama and his funny and entertaining speech. What did they talk about? “He spoke about his visit to India and our Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to America. He was very warm and gracious and it felt really nice to be recognised as an Indian actress,“ she admits.

Priyanka also had a few words with First Lady Michelle Obama. “She has been doing some work on the girl's education programme and so am I. We had a conversation about it on Saturday. Hopefully something will come out of it,“ she reveals, but firmly dismisses the question of campaigning for the upcoming US elections. “I am apolitical and while I have opinions, I am not an American citizen with voting rights so I don't see a role for myself in the country's politics.“

Do people there know that she is Padma Shri Priyanka Chopra now? Pointing out that different countries have different cultures and Americans have to be appraised of what's important to Indians and vice versa, she laughs, “But I am really proud of the honour and keep talking about it all the time.“ Does this means that she will agree to be India's brand ambassador? The actress argues that while her team has been spoken to there has been no official intimation on this so there is no point speculating about something which is still hypothetical. “I'm a proud Indian and I would be happy to represent my country, anywhere, anytime. I've been doing it since I was 17,“ points out the former Miss World who recently made it to the Time magazine cover as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Her TV series, Quantico, has made her a household name in the West, followed by the Baywatch movie in which she plays the antagonist. Quiz her on the latter and she reminds you that she has played negative characters in a few Hindi films in the past, including Aitraaz. “People were expecting me to play the heroine in my first Hollywood film but I don't like being conventional. It's fun taking on all the six lifeguards, the entire Baywatch team,“ she chuckles. So will we see her in the famous red swimsuit? “Since I am not one of the lifeguards I won't be wearing the red swimsuit. Whether I wear one or not is something you will have to wait and watch,“ she says enigmatically.

With all the offers coming her way in the West, will she get further distanced from India? Priyanka reasons that she has been successfully balancing her career in the US and India for the last few years without having to choose between one and the other and will continue to do so. “Hindi films are in my blood and my soul, I can never be distanced from them,“ she avers.

There's been talk of her playing Amrita Pritam in the Sahir biopic being produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and a directorial with Sanjay himself. She admits that he's her favourite filmmaker. “If he comes to me with something there's no question of saying no. Over the last one year I have been filming Bajirao Mastani, Gangaajal and now Baywatch along with Quantico. It's been difficult. I have been flying down to India for a day and back. After all the hard work and long hours I need a family vacation. I will be flying back next month and will be home for a month-and-a-half before I return in July for the second season of Quantico. That's when I will decide what films to take on. One thing however is clear, after Quantico I won't be doing another TV show,“ she rings off.