Priyanka Chopra on her comeback Hindi film, The Sky Is Pink, her production plans and making her long-distance marriage with Nick Jonas work
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; October 6, 2019)

From becoming the face for desi talent in the US by headlining the ABC show, Quantico, to her marriage to pop star Nick Jonas, Priyanka Chopra Jonas is evidently in a content space. And yet, for anyone who knows her well enough, she is always hungry for more.

We catch up with her at Mehboob Studios, Bandra, and chat about why film sets need to go plastic-free given the alarming state of the environment, but soon enough, we nosedive into a conversation about what made her choose a fairly non-commercial filmmaker Shonali Bose's The Sky Is Pink even when industry bigwigs were lining up at her doorstep.

"I have never picked up conventional or mainstream films. To me, a good story matters the most. I am a movie buff and this was a story that sucked me in. Be it a Bajirao Mastani or a Mary Kom or Barfi! they aren't conventional. Of course, I do tentpole films but that's not the only thing I depend on. Now, the audience is different. A few years ago, when we were marketing our films we would say, 'leave your brains at home and watch the movie'. People don't want to leave their brains behind at home anymore. I understand that people want to shaken, stirred and moved while watching a film," starts off Chopra.

She admits that she has not watched Bose's films. "She keeps telling me, 'How did you say yes to me without seeing my work?'" Chopra says that the story moved her to bits. The Sky Is Pink, in Shonali's words, is the love story of Niren and Aditi Chaudhury, the parents of Aisha, an author and motivational speaker who died of pulmonary fibrosis.

"This story is profound and funny. It hits your heart. I have been acting for 16 years. I have worked with many new filmmakers. When I talk to a filmmaker, I can sense how much they know a subject. The script spoke to me. When I met her in New York, I knew instinctively that I wanted to be directed by her. There are filmmakers I have worked with and have not been able to trust. I wanted an immersive experience and Shonali had clarity. She told me how she lost her child. There is a certain lightness about death. She told me that people go when their work on Earth is done. You shouldn't mourn their death but celebrate their life. I hadn't dealt with my father's death as well. But she made me realise that I didn't need to mourn him. People who love us don't want us to grieve. This film discusses a heavy subject but is told by Aisha who is light-hearted. Her parents decided to give her every kind of adventure and love that they could think of. I was amazed that these real-life people who created an extraordinary life for their daughter. It was incredibly inspiring for me as an actor. I went through a roller-coaster of emotions, laughing my guts out and crying a little through it. The film made me call up those I love and tell them how much I cherish them."

Chopra was attracted to the story of enduring love of Niren and Aditi who met as high school sweethearts. Now, at 55 they still hold hands, give each other a peck and survived the loss of two children. "Their chemistry is overpowering, 70 per cent of couples separate after the death of their children. To be happy and have compassion is hard in such scenarios. Life is not a pursuit of rage but happiness. When my dad was suffering, I remember the toll it took on mom [Madhu]."

She derived the character from her mother as much as she did from Aditi and Shonali. "My mother is similar to Aditi, fiercely protective and her own person. We are taught as girls to have that kind of independence, have opinions and have a voice. I want the world to see that a free-spirited family can be well-knit and doesn't take away from sanskars."

Though Chopra is back with a Bollywood film after a gap, she says, "I always had films coming my way. But during Quantico, I had to give 11 months of my year to them. This is why I did Baywatch, A Kid Like Jake and Isn't It Romantic because one month is not enough to finish a feature. Post-Quantico, I knew what kind of film I was looking for. I knew Alex Parish so well that I needed a role to scare me. I wanted to be on my toes, get sleepless nights. I knew I wanted to be fed as an artiste. It's a responsibility to play a real-life person. I had to play a mother which I am not yet. I remember a scene required me to go so deep into me that once cameras stopped, I held Shonali and cried. I was getting married when I was shooting, so there was no time to plan the wedding in between the film."

With The Sky Is Pink, Chopra also turns a Hindi film producer too. "I want to do web series and features across languages. I am an EP on the Netflix film, The White Tiger. I am producing the Mindy Kaling film as well as web shows. I like taking chance on new talent because I never had that."

'We Inform Each Other Of Every Tiny Detail'
Priyanka Chopra Jonas and husband Nick Jonas lead hectic lives thanks to their professional commitments. PeeCee says, "We have rules. We don't go two weeks without meeting each other, no matter where we are in the world. We have to stay in touch. We have to inform each other of every tiny detail. Our schedules are opposite when we are in different time zones, but we FaceTime our way through this. It's a modern-day long distance relationship, which is hinged on how much we want to make it work. We love each other's company and we are each other's best friends. Sometimes, I wake him in the middle of the night and shriek out something that happened with me and he's there. We get how important our work is to us. We are ambitious and driven and in love in equal parts."

There is no textbook case study for an actor, especially for one who left India at the peak of her career to relaunch herself in the US
Aseem Chhabra (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 21, 2019)

In January 2018, Priyanka Chopra traveled to the Sundance Film Festival for the world premiere of director Silas Howard’s film A Kid Like Jake, a story about a four-year-old transgender kid — Jake, who prefers to dress up in girls’ clothes and play with dolls. The film stars Clare Danes, Jim Parsons, Octavia Spenser and Chopra in a brief role of an Indian mother, whose son is friends with Jake.

Chopra’s role was less than 15 minutes long, and it led Variety’s critic to write that even though she had a charming presence, she “slips in and out of the movie without having a compelling reason to be in it”.

The Variety critic made an important point.

In December 2014, when Chopra signed a one-year development deal with ABC network, she stated that she expected to get the kind of work which would give her the same position as she had in India — that of a leading star and actress. And the ABC show Quantico did just that. The show may not have been a favourite with critics and it slowly began to lose its audience, but it was the first time an Indian actress was playing a lead role in an American network’s prime time show.

But post-Quantico (the show was canceled after its truncated Season 3 and its last episode was broadcast on August 3, 2018), Chopra seems to be searching for an answer to where she should take her career next?

A large part of Chopra’s life in the last year was determined by her brief romance, followed by the big fat wedding to the young pop singer Nick Jonas. Her daily postings on Instagram — images of the married couple interlocked in romantic poses, reach her 43 plus million followers, and continue to build the Priyanka Chopra brand. Social media keeps her connected with her fans, especially those in India, and it has been so since her last Bollywood film — Jai GangaaJal was released in March 2016.

So adept she is with social media that she continues to rule the top position of The Hollywood Reporter’s Top Actors’ Social Media Climbers chart.

Earlier this year, Chopra launched an Oprah Winfrey-like inspirational YouTube show — If I Could Tell You Just One Thing. The plan was that in each episode she would talk to women who were high achievers and discuss their lives, the choices they made.

The first episode was posted on March 8, 2019 — International Women’s Day — where Chopra interviewed fashion icon Diane von Fürstenberg, US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, and Asian rapper and actress Awkwafina. The episode has 4.7 million views, but since March, Chopra has not posted a second episode.

“I’m in my mid-thirties,” Chopra says in the trailer for the show. “I am trying to figure out where I go next. Getting married really made me think about what [my] next chapter is.”

In the trailer, Chopra showed an honest side to her. She did not have to speak out openly that she was contemplating her next move. But there has always been a degree of honesty in her.

One cannot imagine someone like Deepika Padukone or Katrina Kaif give interviews, where they reflect on what to do next. And they do not need to. They continue acting in films, travel, do modeling gigs and seem quite satisfied with the choice they made a while back — to act in Bollywood films and along the way become stars.

But Chopra continues to wade through unchartered waters. There is no textbook case study for an actress, who left India at the peak of her career with films like Bajirao Mastani and Dil Dhadakne Do (both released in 2015) to start a career in the US.

There was no compulsion for her to leave India. But once she chose to act in an American television show, she had to stay in the US for long periods. That meant missing acting opportunities in India.

She did get some work in the US besides Quantico.

The 2017 reboot of the hit TV show Baywatch (right) was the most prominent of the three films she acted in the US. But Baywatch was pretty flat and dull. It was never clear why the film’s producers decided to revive an old television show when the images of sexy women and men running on a beach seem quite dated. To Chopra, the Baywatch project must have appeared exciting and she seemed to enjoy playing the mean Victoria Leeds. Unfortunately, there was hardly any word of praise for her in the Western press. In Sundance, Chopra was asked by Deadline.com why she acted in A Kid Like Jake? And she came up with an impressive answer that what drives her as an artist is fighting for onscreen representation and playing characters that defy societal expectations. It is a noble idea, but one wonders if that would actually be the key goal for a big Bollywood star to leave everything behind and play small supporting roles in Hollywood films?

This February, Chopra’s third film — Isn’t It Romantic opened in theaters in the US. The musical comedy stars Australian actors Rebel Wilson and Liam Hemsworth.

Once again Chopra makes a brief appearance in the film, playing a gorgeous model who shows up in Wilson’s long drawn-out dream sequence, where the characters even break into songs and dances. Having mastered the art of dancing in Bollywood films, Chopra is undoubtedly the best among the rest of the actors in the film. But why she chose to be in a film that gave her just about 12 minutes of screen time is anyone’s guess.

Incidentally, all three of Chopra’s Hollywood films are streaming on Netflix India, but are not available on Netflix’s US version. Does Netflix believes that Chopra’s fan following is still bigger in India? Sure, the company is right. But will her Indian fans watch A Kid Like Jake or Isn’t It Romantic even when she has tiny roles in the two films?

I am not certain about that.

As it often happens with actors, there were a few projects Chopra was exploring in the last year that did not materialise. Due to her impending marriage, Chopra decided not to act in Bharat. There was word that Chopra was set to produce a sit-com based on the life of Madhuri Dixit, while the star lived in the US. But that show did not go beyond the pilot. And a film based on the life of the late astronaut Kalpana Chawla also did not take off. It is said that Chawla’s husband refused to sell her life story to Chopra.

Chopra’s career is still managed by her friend Anjula Acharya and Grubman Shire. But recently Team Priyanka Chopra took a major decision to reboot her flagging career.

Last month, she changed her talent agency — from William Morris Endeavor to United Talent Agency. She joined WME in 2015, after working with Creative Artists Agency for three years. The strategic decision means there could be more projects coming her way.

In the last year she has shot one Indian film (her first since Jai GangaaJal) — director Shonali Bose’s The Sky Is Pink with Farhan Akhtar. Given Bose’s reputation and connection with the Toronto International Film Festival, the film could premiere there in September. Penguin Random House is scheduled to publish Chopra’s book Unfinished this year. Now there are reports Chopra will join Mindy Kaling to produce and star in an untitled wedding comedy which will be set in India.

Priyanka Chopra still has enough balls up in the air and so this much is certain: She will surely surprise us soon enough.

It is too early to write her off.

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 15, 2017)