UAE: Priyanka Chopra Recalls Early Days When 'Six Movies Flopped Back To Back'

Barely out of her teens, Priyanka Chopra started her showbiz journey in 2000 with an international beauty pageant win, followed by multiple movie roles in India cinema. Fifteen years later, right in the middle of her Bollywood career, she made her American series debut with Quantico, which was followed by several other Hollywood titles.

Priyanka is the rare example of an Indian actress who has successfully "made it" in Hollywood, occasionally returning to work in India. It might have seemed like a smooth transition, but, the actress assures, it was not.

Speaking at the Bridge Summit in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, Priyanka said the major pivots in her 25-year career were driven by“survival”, recalling a period early on when“six movies flopped back to back” and she felt compelled to reinvent herself.

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The 43-year-old actress said career shifts that later looked deliberate“were never about choice” at the time.“I was just trying to figure out what to do next,” she said.

Chopra said she has long fought against being confined to a single identity.“As soon as you succeed at one thing, you're put into a box,” she said, adding that she has had to“convince everyone” repeatedly that she could do more.

She recalled spending her twenties saying yes to every job because she had“no privilege to say no”, working relentlessly and missing family milestones.“Now I get to choose,” she said.“I'm on the other side of my sacrifice.”

Pushing back against hustle culture, she said,“You can hustle, but you can't hustle at all times. Everything has its time and place.”

Chopra added that her decisions today hinge on what she is“willing to suffer through”, from jet lag to long stretches away from home.“You can't be right all the time,” she said.“You can just do the best that you can today.”

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