On December 24, Priyanka Chopra featured on the world's largest movie database website, IMDb's list of most popular celebrities, at No. 55, up 222 positions from 2015. She was ahead of Hollywood superstars Jennifer Aniston, Emma Watson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence and even Johnny Depp. But four days after the official announcement, she moved up to the 16th spot on the list. This, after being ranked eighth in the Forbes list of highest paid celebrities in the world and making it to one of the six covers of Time magazine's “100 Most Influential People“ of 2016, makes PeeCee's meteoric rise globally better than a dream.

The 34-year-old actress will kick off the New Year as one of the presenters of the 74th edition of the Golden Globe Awards, joining Anna Kendrick and Steve Carell. Isn't she afraid this bubble will burst one day too soon? “I've been in the business long enough to know that evolution is the only way forward. It feels incredible to be No. 16 on the IMDb list and I'll just keep working. There is no other way to win,“ she states matter-of-factly.

The actress-singer-producer shot to fame as FBI-recruit, Alex Parrish in ABC's cop drama, Quantico. She went on to appear on John Oliver and Ellen's talk shows, at former US President Barack Obama's White House Correspondents dinner, on stage at the 88th Academy Awards and the 68th Emmys. And PeeCee says she has her “brown girl origin“ to thank for the way the international media is eating off her hands. “There is a certain curiosity about who I am, where I'm from and the 50-odd films I've done. They like discussing the diversity,“ she reasons.

Her Hollywood debut, Seth Gordon's Baywatch, in which she plays bad girl Victoria Leeds, alongside Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Zac Efron, is set for a mid-2017 unveiling. Asked if she's worried about being “good enough for Hollywood“ or being labelled a “sex symbol“ with her villainous role being described as an “ostentatious boss b**ch on the beach“ in the West, she quips, “Being objectified is part of my job. I don't get offended when I'm called a sex symbol because I'm an actress and it's the nature of what I do. Actually, there are very few things that offend or scare me now.“ Even before the husky laugh dies down, PeeCee is quick to add that she doesn't think being a sex symbol is something she or anybody else aims to become. “Of course you want to be hot, but that's not all you want.“

As far as her job is concerned, she points out that she knows the technical aspects well, and has a lot of experience from working with incredible filmmakers. “I was 17 when I stood on stage and was asked to comment on the lives of people in countries I'd never heard of. I was nervous then. Today, I can stand on the world stage, confident, after training with the most prolific film industry in the world,“ asserts the former Miss World.

While she was in Mumbai, Priyanka met Sanjay Leela Bhansali, reportedly for a female-oriented drama and admits he's someone she can't say 'no' to. “He knows my pulse and my style. Every time we meet, we look for things to do together. I am his eternal fan and he knows it. Hopefully, we will come up with something this time too,“ she smiles, refusing to talk about films she was offered but couldn't do. “The list is so long and meri jaan jalti hai when I have to turn down good films. I'm used to signing four-six films a year but now have been told to select just two because I have just four months this year to devote to films and that's after stretching my schedule. I'll finalize both by January.“

After a short break in Goa to bring in the New Year with her close friends and family, Priyanka flies back to New York and resumes filming for the second sea son of Quantico which wraps up in April. “The show has been shifted to a prime-time Monday slot from Sunday night which proves ABC's faith in the series. By mid Feb or latest by March we will know whether Quantico will be booked for a third season,“ she reveals, adding that by the end of this season, the fate of Alex Parrish and where she is headed will become clear. “Right now, Alex is neither CIA nor FBI, she's just in the middle of the terrorism crisis. But soon everyone will know where she stands in the Government service order.“