When it comes to making strides in the entertainment industry, be it Bollywood or Hollywood, Priyanka Chopra Jonas has set a stellar precedent. The actress began her career in the early 2000s. The decade was marked by her appearances in masala entertainers like Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Don, Krrish and more. And it turns out that was just a build-up for all that was yet to come. PeeCee went on to showcase her amazing acting chops in films like Fashion and Barfi! before making it big in Hollywood with Baywatch. Since then, it has only been onward and upwards for the star who was last seen in The Matrix Resurrections. The 2021 film is one of the many international projects to feature her with titles like It’s All Coming Back To Me and Citadel coming up. It’s no wonder that she is cited as a prime example of what breaking into the international entertainment market looks like. On the occasion of Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ birthday, we’re taking a look at films that defined her impressive career in order to examine what went into her success story.
Here Are Some Of The Films That Placed Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ Many Talents On Full Display:
Fashion
By the time Priyanka did Fashion in 2008, she was already 25 plus films into her career. But the Madhur Bhandarkar directorial hinted at a significant step in her career. In Fashion, Priyanka plays Meghana Mathur, a young small-town girl who goes on to become a successful name in the modelling industry. She delivered a nuanced portrayal of a struggling model. Having started her career early with pageants and winning Miss World, it perhaps came from a personal place. When she walked the ramp to the film’s hit track Jalwa, there was no looking away from her. The role won her a Best Actress award at the 54th Filmfare Awards. Since then, she has always been in the spotlight. Need we say more?
Barfi!
Priyanka Chopra is a lot of things but she certainly is not one to shy away from experimentation in cinema. Any actor will tell you that playing a character with a disability is both physically challenging and emotionally demanding. Yet Priyanka rose to the challenge when she played Jhilmil, an autistic girl who forms a special bond with the titular Barfi (played by Ranbir Kapoor). The actress brought an effortless charm and poignance to the role. Over the course of the film, Jhilmil falls in love, deals with jealousy, bullying and then some. Priyanka essays each facet of the character with studied grace. The result was an endearing portrait of a woman in love. Barfi! came as further proof that PeeCee can convincingly pull off any role.
7 Khoon Maaf
If we were to describe 7 Khoon Maaf in one phrase, it would easily be – Priyanka Chopra unhinged. The film adapted from Ruskin Bond’s short story Susanna’s Seven Husbands, sees her take on seven wildly different avatars. She plays femme fatale Susanna Anna Marie-Johannes, a woman who marries seven times and each time her husbands are mysteriously found dead. Just from watching the film, you can tell that Priyanka had a gala time playing a murderer. The film is twisted, and fun and it has a scene-stealing dance sequence where the actress has a blast performing the hit track Darling. Audiences were understandably obsessed with the film and the role(s) earned PeeCee a Best Actress (Critics) award at the 57th Filmfare Awards.
Mary Kom
When Priyanka Chopra isn’t winning off-screen, she’s winning on-screen in a boxing ring. Mary Kom is a rare title added to the actress’ filmography. The sports biopic features her as the famous boxer Mary Kom who landed a historic win at the 2008 World Boxing Championships in Ningbo. After premiering at an international film festival, the film hit cinemas and went on to rake in huge numbers at the box office. In fact, it became one of the highest-grossing female-led films. PeeCee has been paving the way ahead for women in Hindi cinema and that deserves all the applause.
Bajirao Mastani
Bajirao Mastani spent years in development hell before it made it to the big screen. And we’re glad it hit theatres because watching Priyanka Chopra in a period drama is absolutely worth it. Needless to say, she was amazing in the film. Starring alongside Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, the actress plays a Kashibai, the wife of Bajirao I, a devoted partner. The two best things to come out of the film are witnessing her decked in the best of period costumes and her on-screen personification of angst and jealousy. Who can forget their performance on Pinga? The actress channels the grief and joys of Kashibai with equal finesse making it one of her best roles.
The Sky Is Pink
Once Priyanka Chopra established herself as an actress, she expressed her wish to produce and revealed that she has been looking for the right moment. That moment arrived when she started her own production company Purple Pebble Pictures. Through the banner she produced one of her recent hits, The Sky Is Pink. The biographical drama is a romantic comedy based on the life of Aisha Chaudhary, a woman who suffered from immunodeficiency and pulmonary fibrosis. Priyanka took on the dual role of actor and producer as she played Aditi Chaudhary, Aisha’s mother alongside Farhan Akhtar who played Niren Chaudhary. The film took on some heavy material including motherhood, womanhood and loss, material that Priyanka was more than capable of bringing to theatres.
Baywatch
When Baywatch was released back in 2017, the number of searches for “Who is the Indian lady in Baywatch?” skyrocketed. And who can blame the internet for that? The film, which also stars Hollywood actors including Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario, and more, sees her play Victoria Leeds, a wealthy drug-smuggling businesswoman. As the film’s antagonist, she was stylish and intimidating. For the most part, she made the action comedy film watchable and that’s really saying something.
The films mentioned on this list are only a handful of all the titles she has been featured in. Between making her Hollywood debut with Quantico and sharing screen space with Keanu Reeves, she has come a long way. Priyanka Chopra’s personal and professional life has been full of triumphs. The actress recently welcomed her first child Malti-Marie with husband-singer Nick Jonas via surrogacy. It didn’t take her long to go back to work on the sets of Citadel. The Russo Brothers’ backed spy thriller series will see her star alongside Richard Madden. In It’s All Coming Back To Me she will be seen alongside Sam Heughan and Celine Dion. She is also set to collaborate with Mindy Kaling on a movie that will spotlight South Asian people and bring a more nuanced portrayal of Indian cultures in films. Trust the “Desi Girl” to make India proud with everything she does.
