Priyanka on a roll as first-time Marathi producer, bags three gongs
Shilpi Sampad (MID-DAY; April 8, 2017)

When the National Awards were announced last afternoon, Priyanka Chopra was fast asleep. Naturally; it was 2.30 am in the US. Her mother, Madhu Chopra, who is currently with her, couldn’t resist waking her up. And in Chopra Sr’s words, Priyanka “jumped out of the bed and hugged me” on hearing the news.

“I always end up being woken up with news of National Awards in the middle of the night. And invariably, I am in America. I was here shooting for Anjaana Anjaani when I received a call about Fashion (2008, her first National Award). I don’t know how many actor-producers have won one before, but I am excited to be part of the privileged league. I am really excited about Ventilator bagging three honours because it is a movie I wanted to make for my father (late Ashok Chopra),” says Priyanka, speaking to us from the US.

The actor-producer recalls how director Rajesh Mapuskar was finding the filmmaking process difficult with 75 actors in the cast. “But the story resonated with me, and reminded me of the time my dad was in the hospital and all that my family went through. When I spoke to Rajesh sir yesterday after the awards were announced, he told me my father would have been very proud. This wouldn’t have been possible without my mom; everyone at Purple Pebble Pictures (her banner) put in their heart and soul into the film.”

PeeCee is planning a grand bash to celebrate the triple win — in Mumbai. “I am coming back in 10 days to Mumbai to have a party with my cast, crew and friends who have always been supportive. It has been difficult being a hands-on producer while I am in America working on my career as an actor. My mom is my backbone; she has been doing all the hard work there while I take the creative decisions here. We make a great team,” she says.

Ask her if she feels like being in a beautiful dream with awards landing in her lap every other day and she says, “No, I work very hard. I don’t sleep or stay with my family. I work round the clock. My dream was to be an achiever, but I have known from a very young age that nothing can replace hard work. I am grateful that everything has worked out well for me. And I can tell you it was sheer hard work.”

While Ventilator hogged the limelight apart from another Marathi film Kaasav (Best Feature Film), a surprise miss from the winners’ list was Nagraj Manjule’s Sairat, which was not only critically acclaimed but also proved to be a huge commercial success. We tried reaching Manjule for a comment, but he remained unavailable for comment.