In February 2015, when Priyanka Chopra signed on as the lead in ABC’s thriller series Quantico, she was home at the height of her career. A few months ago, she starred in the critically and commercially successful Mary Kom, and two more blockbusters – Dil Dhadakne Do and Bajirao Mastani – are slated to release in the coming months. Despite this, Priyanka decided to virtually pack her bags from Mumbai and head to Hollywood in 2016, a move criticized by many. After all, many Indian actors have tried and almost all of them have failed, But not Priyanka. Not only has she managed to carve out a place for herself in Hollywood, but she is increasingly establishing her presence as India’s first truly global star.
Priyanka turns 40 on Monday. Any other time it would have marked the beginning of the end for the Indian heroine’s career. But one look at Priyanka’s upcoming projects suggests that she might just be getting started. He stars in Amazon Prime Video’s ambitious sci-fi series Citadel, as well as the mainstream romantic drama It’s All Coming Back to Me. These are not small parts like some of her previous roles have been. And these are no small productions either. So how did Priyanka get here in just seven years? To understand this, we must first look at the landscape that Indian actors deal with in Hollywood.
Apart from Priyanka, Indian actors in the West can largely be divided into two categories – stars who have occasionally appeared or tried to break into the scene as leads, and character actors who have been seen often but rarely in leading roles. Among the former are Amitabh Bachchan (The Great Gatsby), Rajini kanth (Bloodstone) or Dhanush (The Gray Man). And there is no dearth of examples of the latter, from Om Puri and Amrish Puri to Naseeruddin Shah and Kabir Bedi. Two actors who gained lasting mainstream recognition in Hollywood were Aishwarya Rai and Irrfan Khan. But Priyanka beat one of them.
Aishwarya’s Hollywood career started with a crossover in Bride and Prejudice and her biggest role was as an antagonist in Pink Panther 2. Not a complete failure, but nothing to write home about. Priyanka has already surpassed her senior in more ways than one. Firstly, Aishwarya has never worked in anything on the scale of The Matrix Resurrections or Citadel. And she’s also never been the face of a mainstream title like Quantico. Of course, Irfan has been able to achieve the former, more often than Priyanka. He was in the Jurassic series, Amazing Spider-Man and even in a more prominent role in Life of Pi. However, where Priyanka moves ahead of Irrfan’s stellar career in the West is in Citadel. For the uninitiated, The Citadel is a massive, massive sci-fi show produced by Amazon Prime Video, with a budget per episode bigger than even Game of Thrones. And Robb Stark from Thrones Richard Madden co-stars in it with Priyanka. It’s a truly global show and she’s the face of it.
No Indian actor has ever worked in such a big project and played such a big role. In terms of global recognition and work, he is clearly India’s first global star. And Priyance is to be applauded for the journey she has taken here. It’s easy for character actors to work in Hollywood. They basically play the same roles there, just in bigger movies. But it’s different with the stars. Indian stars are afraid to play second fiddle to international actors in the West while they rule here. Priyanka had no such qualms, and that’s what paved the way for her to get to where she is now – when she doesn’t have to play second fiddle, when the makers of Matrix Resurrections call her a star despite having a 10-minute role. It is simply because Priyanka Chopra is selling herself today.
Many had the opportunity to pass before her. Dilip Kumar famously turned down a supporting role in Lawrence of Arabia, which made Omar Sharif a household name in the West. Reports suggest that Amitabh Bachchan could not be convinced to work in Passage to India as his fee was too high then. Recently, Ajay Devgn decided not to spend a year in the US for a supporting role in The Expendables, and Deepika Padukone chose to focus on Happy New Year instead of signing Fast and Furious 7. All these actors made a safe decision. They were at the peak of their careers when a big Hollywood film came their way, but they stayed in Bollywood.
On the other hand, Priyanka took more risks when she started her journey in a TV show and then as a villain in Baywatch. It is her ability to take risks that separates her from other Indian actors earlier. Many claim that roles dried up at home, which is why she left for Hollywood. Whatever the reason, Priyanka succeeded because she tried. She left her nest of safety, something many other Indian stars hesitated to do. And it’s high time we give her the respect she deserves for this amazing journey.
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