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Want to see how the US and the world react to my negative role: Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra says if actors can’t deliver on a character, no PR machinery can help.
She has made a significant mark as an actor on the international platform. And this year, Priyanka Chopra (right) officially enters Hollywood with her debut film, Baywatch. HT catches up with the actor for a quick chat about her films, career and challenges.
By now, you have become one of India’s best exports in the global entertainment world. What have you done differently to achieve all of it?
Every new experience is educative. Eventually, you keep working hard in a consistent manner, and no one can deny your good work. Accha kaam karo, acha kaam milega (do good work, you will get good work). There is no shortcut. You have to work hard and deliver.
People should want to watch you and only then, you will get better work. There is no other formula, no PR machinery and no strategy. If you cannot deliver on a character, people will not watch you. The audience is not stupid. They watch you because you deliver what you are supposed to.
Have Indian actors started to make an indelible mark globally?
Definitely, there is curiosity about Indian actors, and that they can be cast now in mainstream entertainment. So, maybe, we will reach a stage where even more people can say that, ‘yeh toh normal hain, ho sakta hai (it’s normal to cast Indian actors and it can happen).’
And here, I’m not including Mindy Kaling or Kunal Nayyar because they are Indian Americans. I am talking about talents from India in global entertainment.
How do you see the future for other Indian talents internationally?
I hope it’s that time (Indians making a mark globally). I hope with me being able to do that (working internationally) along with others such as Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan, those doors really open for us. We should be able to say that we can be representatives in global entertainment, and when I say ‘global entertainment’, I don’t mean only American entertainment.
Do you think your success in the West will have a long-term effect?
I never do anything in life for effect. I do something first and then there’s an effect. It’s not the other way round. I don’t think that iska kya effect hoga (what effect will it have). I can’t think like that. I do things, and then there is a good effect or bad effect. I take it from there then.
After achieving success in India, you are winning over the West too. How do you go about it?
If achieving superstardom, which we see in India or anywhere in the world, was so easy or if there was any formula to it, then a number of people would have done it. It is not about how well you can act or how good you look. It’s about, ‘What kind of feeling you give the audience?’ or ‘What do you make them feel with your work?’ And there is just no explanation to that.
You are stationed in the West nowadays. Are circumstances changing for Indian actors?
I had asked for a role that wasn’t like that (stereotypical). I was given a choice, so I had the luxury of asking. When I was asked what kind of a show I was looking for, I said, ‘I will do anything that has nothing to do with my ethnicity.’ I want to be an actor first, and later, we will see how ‘Indianness’ comes into it.
And there is so much of India in Quantico. Alex wears an Om bracelet, and wherever she goes, she has a worship place in her house, and she also speaks Hindi. But all that is incidental to my character. It wasn’t specifically written in the script.
It’s also because when I was growing up and was in school, I was tired to see Indians only as Apu in The Simpsons, or something like that. I was like, ‘Why do we (Indians) play only such stereotypical characters? Why can’t a female actor be an a**-kicking FBI agent? You have never seen an Indian actor play that. So, why can’t we?
How did you convince Ashutosh Gowariker to return to acting for your Marathi venture?
I am very proud of it. I really wanted Ashu sir to act in the film. I was clear, and so was Rajesh (Mapuskar; director) sir. He said, ‘I want someone who looks like the character.’ I remember I called Ashu sir when he was doing Mohenjo Daro (2016) and was busy at that time with the shooting and the post-production.
I said, ‘Come on now, Ashu sir. I gave so much of my life to you as an actor.’ It was emotional blackmail (laughs). And he said, ‘Of course.’ I said, ‘Your first film after so many years has to be with me.’ He returned to acting after almost 15 years.
2017 will see you get into a new zone – Hollywood with Baywatch. Are you excited?
India has always liked me in negative parts. Whether it’s Aitraaz (2004) or 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), I have been appreciated whenever I have done negative roles. Now, I am also interested in knowing how people in the US or the world who know me as the good, righteous girl, Alex Parrish (from Quantico), react to me playing a negative character (she plays the antagonist). So, I am curious to see how that turns out.
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