You’ve got to teach yourself to take over the world
Living up to this statement of hers, Priyanka Chopra Jonas has been conquering the globe, one day at a time. Foraying into Bollywood and showbiz at a relatively young age, 18, this wonder woman set the benchmark high with her countless accomplishments on the global front. Priyanka, who aspired to study aeronautical engineering, thankfully became the desi girl of India and then America’s bahu after marrying pop singer Nick Jonas in 2018.
Priyanka, with a Padma Shri and a National Award for her work in Bollywood, ventured into Hollywood with the American television series Quantico in 2015. Leaving all impressed, the lady who is a force to reckon with, received the People's Choice Award becoming the first South Asian actor to win it. She won it not just once but twice. Ah! That’s not it. The actress appeared on Forbes' List of 100 Most Powerful Women in two consecutive years that is 2017 (#97) and 2018 (#94). Making India proud of her and her achievements, in 2012, Priyanka become the first Bollywood actor to be signed by Creative Artists Agency, one of Hollywood's leading talent agencies. She went on to feature with American rapper will.i.am in the single titled In My City.
Showcasing her acting prowess in Hollywood, Priyanka made her debut as the antagonist opposite Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock in Baywatch. Interestingly, the villain’s role was that of a male actor but the script was tweaked for none other than our desi girl Priyanka! Since then, there is no stopping for Priyanka. Be it awards or red-carpet appearances, she knows how to leave naysayers also impressed! She is also among the highest paid Instagram celebrities. Can it get any better? Well, we don't feel so!
Influential, always!
Priyanka joined Gordon Brown, Steve Wozniak, Bill Clinton, and Charlie Baker for the 50th anniversary of the World Leaders Conference at the Hynes Convention Center as one of the speakers. Later in 2016, Priyanka was featured in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World. In the following year, she was honoured with Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice for her contribution towards social causes. She became the second Bollywood actress to receive it after Sushmita Sen in 2013. After becoming the Global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2016, PeeCee was honoured by Variety with the Power Of Women Award in 2017.
Establishing herself as a philanthropist, Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award was conferred on Priyanka by United Nations Children's Fund in 2019. Not to forget her speech at the recent Girls Up Leadership Summit where she was joined by influential personalities like former First Lady Michelle Obama and Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle. In December 2019, Priyanka was honoured at the Marrakech Film Festival, alongside Hollywood legend Robert Redford, Moroccan actor Mouna Fettou and French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier.
Oscars to Grammys!
Ticking off another major box in the list of global achievements, Priyanka raced past her contemporaries by making her Oscars red-carpet debut in 2016. Not just that, she went on to present the ceremony in a white lace floor-length couture gown from Zuhair Murad's spring 2016 collection. The fashion police weren’t just left impressed with the way she pulled it off confidently, but it also became the seventh most-searched dress in Google’s end-of-the-year lists in the Oscar fashion category.
On a quirkier note, Priyanka added thrill and drama to MET Gala 2019 when she walked the carpet with Nick in a weird-looking frothy grey Dior haute couture number that had cage detailing on the corset and multicolored feathers adorning the hem. While the outfit gave birth to numerous memes, but the actress proved that she ain’t someone who will play safe. Remember the time when PeeCee and 'jiju' Nick were spotted at MET Gala 2017 together for the first time? Who would have thought that from red carpet the two will walk down the wedding aisle!
Grammys 2020 red carpet saw Priyanka take a ‘deep plunge’ with a powerful Ralph & Russo ivory kimono dress. While the fashion police raised an eyebrow, Priyanka rocked the look like a queen and won over with her confidence to pull off anything with sheer ease!
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Image Courtsey: Instagram
And not to forget, when Priyanka took over the Cannes Film Festival 2019 with Nick, and swept off the entire French Riviera in her magic. Not a surprise when People magazine hailed the two as the 'Best Dressed Couple' of the year!
A regal wedding with Nick Jonas
Priyanka and Nick met for the first time in 2017. It was in July 2018 when Nick whisked her off to Crete, an island in Greece where he went down on his knees to propose his lady love. Days later, it was reported that the singer rented out Tiffany's store in New York City to select the engagement ring. Priyanka, in previous interviews, mentioned that she has a ‘romantic fascination’ for the brand and wanted her ring to be a Tiffany one. Nick, for his lady love, delighted her with a classy ring.
Their formal engagement took place in Mumbai with both families coming together. On August 18, 2018, Priyanka and Nick were taken for life.
On December 1 and 2, 2018, Priyanka and Nick tied the knot at Jodhpur’s Umaid Bhawan Palace. One of the biggest affairs, the ceremony was in accordance with Hindu and Christian rituals. Priyanka’s mother Madhu Chopra walked her down the aisle while tears couldn’t stop rolling down Nick’s cheeks. The pictures of the wedding were exclusively released by People magazine. As per reports, the publication bought the rights of the wedding for a whopping USD 2.5 million, making it one of the heavily monetised weddings ever.
Talking of weddings, PCJ literally had everyone turns their heads when she joined the bridal crew of her BFF Meghan Markle, who tied the knot with Prince Harry in May 2018. Touted as the Royal Wedding of decade, Priyanka had the flashbulbs right at her, dining and partying with David Beckham, Geoge Clooney to name a few.
Conquering the globe, one day at a time
Ahead of her film The Sky Is Pink’s release in October last year, Priyanka became the first Bollywood actress to feature on microblogging site Twitter's video series #BehindTheTweets. Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon became a regular activity for the actress, which is indeed uncommon for many. From playing Holi with Jimmy in 2017 to having a wing eating challenge with him, Priyanka never failed to entertain her fans with her spontaneity. Oh, and then are appearances on The Ellen Show and so on.
Leaving behind her mark forever, Priyanka became the first Bollywood actor to have not just one but four wax statues in four Madame Tussauds locations around the world.
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Image Courtsey: Twitter
The future is awaited!
Priyanka, who faced rejection during the initial phase of her career, marched past naysayers with her relentless efforts to make it big without any Godfather. She recently gave a major surprise to all by announcing her multimillion-dollar first-look television deal with OTT streaming giant Amazon.
Apart from this, she will be seen opposite Keanu Reeves in The Matrix 4. She has signed Joe and Anthony Russo-directed Amazon series Citadel opposite Richard Madden. Her other projects include Netflix’ The White Tiger with Rajkummar Rao and We Can Be Heroes by director Robert Rodriguez. She will frontline and produce a series titled Sheela based on Ma Anand Sheela, assistant to guru Bhagwan Rajneesh aka Osho. She will also be collaborating with her friend Mindy Kaling for a wedding comedy by Universal Pictures.
Priyanka and Nick will also be a part of reality show Sangeet, a dance reality show, loosely inspired by her own sangeet ceremony, with real life couples as participants
Priyanka’s journey in her own words
In a never-seen-before idea, Priyanka decided to convert her sangeet ceremony into an unscripted web series greenlit by Amazon. Tentatively titled Sangeet Project, the casting is said to be underway and the series was scheduled to go on floors this year. Along with this, her memoir titled Unfinished will be out on the stands in India, the US and the UK this year. As Priyanka completed 20 years in Bollywood recently, the book will be published by Penguin Random House India.
