Chopra was born in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand to Ashok Chopra and Madhu Akhauri, both physicians by profession. Chopra spent her childhood in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh; Newton, Massachusetts; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[9] Her father was in the army and thus her family moved quite frequently. Her father hailed from a family of Punjabi origin, settled in Bareilly and her mother comes from a family settled in Jamshedpur. She also has a brother, Siddharth, who is seven years younger than she is.[10]
Chopra studied at La Martiniere Girls' School in Lucknow as a young girl. She subsequently re-located to the U.S. where she studied in Newton South High School in Newton, Massachusetts and then in John F. Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She returned to India and finished her high school at Army School in Bareilly. She began college at Jai Hind College in Mumbai, but left after winning the Miss World pageant.
Miss World
Chopra's mother sent in pictures of her for the Miss India contest. When she got called to participate, she was surprised and did it mainly to take a break from studying.[11] She came in second place at the Femina Miss India 2000 competition, winning the Femina Miss India World title. She was subsequently sent to the Miss World pageant, where she was crowned Miss World 2000.[12] In the same year, Lara Dutta and Dia Mirza, both also from India, won the Miss Universe and Miss Asia Pacific crowns respectively, in a rare triple victory for one country. When Chopra won the Miss World crown, she became the fifth Indian woman to win the title, and the fourth Indian woman to win in a span of seven years.
Acting career
Debut and breakthrough (2002–03)
Chopra made her debut in the 2002 Tamil film Thamizhan playing the role of Priya, the love interest of the protaginist in the film played by Vijay. The film was praised for its wit, although the depth of Chopra's character was seen as lacking.[13] Chopra also sang playback in the film, singing "Ullathai Killadhe" along with Vijay. In 2003, she appeared in her first Bollywood film, opposite Sunny Deol and Preity Zinta in the Anil Sharma film The Hero: Love Story of a Spy. She played a supporting role as a doctor named Shaheen in the film that The New York Times described as "ripping its text from the seething border tensions between India and Pakistan, spicing its conflict with hot-tempered religious zealots bent on nuclear havoc".[14] Despite being one of the highest grossing films of that year, the overall film was not well received by critics.[15] Chopra was awarded mostly good reviews for her debut Hindi performance.[16] Later that year she appeared in Raj Kanwar's Andaaz, playing the character of Jiya who falls in love with Raj Malhotra, played by Akshay Kumar. The film was a success at the box office,[15] earning her a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award and a nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. Rediff.com said of her role, "Priyanka Chopra alone clicks with the audience, thanks to her skimpy outfits."[17]
After a series of flops, Chopra was cast in Madhur Bhandarkar's Fashion (2008) for the lead role of Meghna Mathur. Revolving around the fashion world through Chopra's role of an ambitious model, the film was a critical success. Her performance in the film was appreciated and earned her several awards for Best Actress including the National Film Award for Best Actress, as well as the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.[30][31] Subhash K Jha said of her performance, "Her transformation from the bubbly Chandigarh girl to the super-ambitious supermodel, who dumps her boyfriend and conscience to pursue her dreams, is achieved with a gentle subtlety and bridled passion. This is Priyanka’s coming-of-age film. She looks like a zillion bucks. And acts like a woman who connects with the darkest, most desperate human emotions without wallowing in them."[32] Chopra's final release of the year was Tarun Mansukhani's romantic comedy Dostana. The film was a moderate financial success.[27] Rajeev Masand wrote about her performance, "Priyanka Chopra, is at complete ease, slipping effortlessly into the role of the hottie-with-a-heart-of-gold; she looks smashing in this film, better than she's ever looked before."[33]
In 2009, she appeared in Vishal Bhardwaj's caper thriller Kaminey alongside Shahid Kapoor, playing the role of a feisty Marathi girl named Sweety. Her performance in the film was described by critic Taran Adarsh as "first-rate", who further stated, "She's so much in sync with her character... [and] gets the Maharashtrian accent perfect".[34] She subsequently appeared in Ashutosh Gowariker's romantic comedy What's Your Raashee?, a film which made Chopra the first actress in cinema history to portray 12 distinct characters in one film.[35] She was reportedly being considered for inclusion in the upcoming edition of Guinness World Records for this feat.[36] The film itself was a financial and critical failure,[37][38] but Chopra's performance in the film was appreciated by critics.[39]
In 2010, Chopra appeared in Jugal Hansraj's Pyaar Impossible where she portrayed the role of a college beauty who eventually falls in love with a geek. The film was a commercial and critical failure.[40] Her next release, Siddharth Anand's Anjaana Anjaani alongside Ranbir Kapoor, got a good initial response at the box office,[40] but was not well-received by the critics.[41]
In early 2011, Chopra appeared in Vishal Bhardwaj's black comedy 7 Khoon Maaf, in which she portrayed the role of an Anglo-Indian woman who murders her seven husbands. Her performance in the film garnered mixed reviews by the critics.[42][43] She has completed the filming of Farhan Akhtar's Don 2 – The Chase Continues alongside Shahrukh Khan. She has commenced the filming of Anurag Basu's Barfee, in which she is playing a mentally challenged girl, as well as Kunal Kohli's next venture opposite Shahid Kapoor in which she plays a yesteryear actress.[44][45] and Karan Johar's Agneepath remake,[46] the filming of both being held in back-to-back schedules.[47] Recently, she has also confirmed to be reprising her role in Krrish 2 alongside Hrithik Roshan.[48]
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