Priyanka Chopra's Mom Madhu Chopra Reveals Actress Was Against Films: 'She Just Wanted To Study'

Global icon Priyanka Chopra has an impressive list of films in Bollywood. Despite delivering amazing performances in movies like Barfi, Andaaz, Fashion, and Bajirao Mastani, among others, her mother, Dr. Madhu Chopra, recently disclosed that during her early years, Priyanka had no intention of pursuing a career in films after winning Miss World. Instead, she wanted to focus on her studies.

In an interview with The Habit Coach, Madhu revealed that although Priyanka took a gap year to participate in the Miss World pageant, she never had plans of entering showbiz at that time. It was only due to the encouragement and recommendation of her parents that Priyanka decided to take up on her first film project.

Throwing it back to how Priyanka was introduced to the world of cinema, Madhu recalled, “Woh Mumbai aayi to obvious next course is film waale aane lage offers le kar but she was completely against films that ‘nahi ye sab mujhe karna nahi hai, I want to study‘. (When we came back to Mumbai, film offers started coming in. She was against it and said that she doesn’t wish to do all this and just study). So we said such opportunities don’t come by every day. ‘You have taken a gap here, give it a shot for two months, do one film, if you don’t like it, if it’s not for you, you can always go back and study. They are not going to take you away.’ So that’s what she did.”

Madhu revealed that the first contract Priyanka signed was marked with teardrop stains. She said her mother that she was only doing it because her mother wanted her to. However, as soon as she stepped in front of the camera, something changed. “But then she went in front of the camera, it shifted. She loved it and then she decided that she wants to continue,” Madhu added.

In fact, it was during one of Priyanka’s first public appearances after winning the Miss World title that her parents realised she was destined for an unconventional path. Madhu recalled, “The first event she did was this huge press conference in Delhi, the world media was there and Mr Dilip, the Editor-In-Chief, he was chairing the press conference and it was amazing how she stood her ground and answered such difficult questions.”

In 2002, Priyanka debuted in the Tamil film “Thamizhan,” followed by her Hindi debut in 2003 with “Hero: The Love Story of a Spy.”