HTLS 2020: Priyanka Chopra disagrees with the idea that streaming is secondary medium, calls it ‘evolution of cinema’

Actor Priyanka Chopra spoke about the stepmotherly treatment that streaming services are usually given in India, and said that she disagrees with it. Priyanka participated in the 18th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Friday, and was joined by husband, singer-actor Nick Jonas.

In a conversation with Sonal Kalra (Managing Editor-Entertainment, Hindustan Times), Priyanka spoke about her philosophy as a producer, and her desire to make a Hindi film soon. She said that she is currently having conversations about returning to Bollywood, and that an announcement is imminent.

“In India, we tend to think that streaming services are second best to theatres when it comes to storytelling,” she said. “I disagree with that. There is, of course, a romance and charm to having a theatrical release, but there is an absolute necessity to having streaming services.”

She continued, “For people who don’t have televisions, there are places in India where people have cellphones and service but don’t have TVs and lights. A lot of people are consuming their entertainment on their phones, and that’s going to be a streaming service. It’s intelligent and it’s smart to get ahead of it, and understand that this is a part of the evolution of cinema, and we should be on the right side of it. There’s a power in knowing that there’s going to be a viewership for your content.”

Priyanka has a slate of streaming projects lined up. In January, she will be seen in Ramin Bahrani’s The White Tiger and Robert Rodriguez’s We Can Be Heroes, both on Netflix. She has a lucrative deal with Amazon Prime Video in place, which will allow her to produce content across a variety of genres and languages.

Follow @htshowbiz for more