Priyanka Chopra makes time from her busy schedule to talk about producing a Punjabi film, regional cinema and family with Unnati Joshi
She may be a star of enduring wattage but as global as she is, there’s this interesting next-door relatability that Priyanka Chopra has. When it comes to helming her solo projects, she leads from the front, choosing to do telecons for her home production despite being a superstar in Bollywood and a rising star in popular American culture.
Calling the Hindi film industry a male-dominated terrain might reek of sexism but then the glass ceiling is meant to be broken — and it’s being done at a steady rate as more women actors are turning to production now. As head of Purple Pebble Pictures (PPP), Priyanka is all set to release her Punjabi film Sarvann. Having garnered rave reviews for her Marathi venture Ventilator, she is being very content-oriented. “Sarvann is about discovering your roots, where you come from, what that means to you, finding another land and what that does to you in a way. It’s the story of retention, it’s drama, it’s entertainment. I think it’s a wholesome family entertainer. What I love about it is it has great music and amazing performances. It’s a really big film and I hope it does well. I am very happy with how it has turned out. I just want the audience to have a good three hours and entertain them. I want them to go smiling,” she told us.
Unlike other star-producers, Priyanka has chosen to develop the potential of our regional film industry. “I decided to venture into regional cinema because I thought it was coming up with good stories. A good story is a support system, especially to new talent, the directors and writers. I started with a Bhojpuri film, then moved to Marathi and now a Punjabi one. We are working on three other regional films as well. We are working on every aspect of story-telling.”
In her own career choices too, she is concentrating on a good story as the pivot. “I am working in English television and films only on that count,” she added.
Priyanka’s mother Madhu Chopra in a recent interview with us had said that Priyanka was a true-blue Punjabi at heart. When we asked her about retaining the same earthiness despite her many sojourns, the actress laughed and gushed: “Well yes, I am as much of a Chopra I can be. I love my paranthas and I am opinionated. I am loud sometimes but I am very very Punjabi.”
Elaborating on her equation with her mother on the sets as a co-producer, she said, “My mother is the producer of every film that I do. She runs the company with me. She heads the business and I handle the creatives. We have a partnership between us and it has always been wonderful working with mum because she is somebody that I trust and has very good business instincts. I trust her on that. She trusts me when it comes to my creative instincts. So we have divided our work and have been a good team so far.” (laughs)
How does she choose her scripts as a producerIJ “I choose my scripts thinking which one would I watch. I read a script like an audience would. I have never really thought of or strategised about what kind of films work and what doesn’t. I have always wanted to push the cart a little bit in whatever form, be it comedy, cinema, digital series and TV. I just want to tell different kinds of stories. Yes, some will work and some won’t but I want my company to push great stories. That’s what we are aiming for.”
So she is aggressively pushing new talent. “When I set up this company, I was very clear that I wanted to give a platform to young talent. We are a very small company but our films should be path-breaking.”
Part of the reason she wants to be a mentor is because she stumbled along her initial days. “When I wanted to do movies, it was very difficult to get in because I was not from the industry; I did not know anyone. I don’t want my company to be like that. I like to make projects where I launch new people with the help of people who are experienced. That’s why I am doing the kind of films that I am doing,” she said.
Sarvann also features Guru Gobind Singh’s shabad sung by her late father Dr Ashok Chopra. “My dad truly loved singing shabad, bhajans and kirtans. He sang his favourite shabad much before but we couldn’t release it because he fell seriously ill. I wanted to make this film a musical tribute to my dad and it begins with the hymn. It is very special; it really feels like my father is next to me when I hear it,” she told us.
To be fair, being the premier female actor in Bollywood — on her way to holding a comparable position in Hollywood — does not leave Priyanka Chopra a lot of time for anything more. So when we asked her if we would see her acting in a regional film, the actress said, “Well, I did a little bit of appearance in my Marathi film, I did a song. Whenever there is a need, I may step in. But at the moment I am very occupied, my time is very spread out. So, not just right now.” Having straddled both worlds, we asked her if she calibrated herself differently in lA. But Priyanka insisted that she didn’t have a formula. “What worked in Hindi films for me worked internationally too. I am not afraid of being myself,” she said. “I think the entertainment industry is full of too many wonderful, beautiful, creative people and you just can’t be someone else. You have to stand out. You have to find your own uniqueness and that has to work for you. So those who want to be an actress, whether it is in America or in India, you have to find who you are and be comfortable with it,” she said. And though she has a packed year ahead, she was still non-commital about her big Bollywood project.