Former Miss World and lead star of Quantico, Bollywood sensation Priyanka Chopra who made the TIME 100 list of Most Influential People, is on the cover of TIME Magazine this week. Just who is the woman who has 19 million ‘likes’ on her Facebook page, outnumbering Leonardo DiCaprio by 3 million!
Born on 18 July 1982 in Jamshedpur, in what is now India’s eastern state of Jharkhand, to Ashok and Madhu Chopra, both physicians in the Indian Army, Chopra’s grew up as an Army brat living in many, many “Cantoments” across the country.
When she turned thirteen, Chopra moved to the United States to study. Living with her aunt .whose family also moved a number of times, she attended schools in Newton, Massachusetts, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Queens, New York City. She returned to India after three years and graduated from high school.
In 2000 she won the Miss World title after which offers from Bollywood started pouring in. Among her notable movies are Mary Kom a 2014 biopic about five time world boxing champion and India’s Olympic bronze medalist Mary Kom. To prepare for this role, Chopra trained in boxing for four months. Mary Kom emerged as a major commercial success, with revenues of $15 million at the box-office, and Chopra won the Screen Award for Best Actress, and the Producers Guild Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
In 2015 Chopra was cast as t he star the ABC prime time drama, Quantico. James Poniewozik of The New York Times described Chopra as the “strongest human asset” of the show, adding that “she is immediately charismatic and commanding.” She received the People’s Choice Award for “Favorite Actress in a New TV Series” for her role in Quantico, becoming the first South Asian actress to win a People’s Choice Award.
Yet another successful film of hers is Bajirao Mastani. It grossed $52 million at the box-office, to become one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time. For her performance, she won the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Chopra supports various social causes related to the girl child through her foundation, “The Priyanka Chopra Foundation for Health and Education”, which works toward providing support to underprivileged girls across India.
