For a 33-year-old, Priyanka Chopra has achieved quite a lot. The recent addition to her long list of achievements after winning the Padma Shri is her inclusion in Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people. Here, the actor talks about what keeps her going. Excerpts:
After bagging a Hollywood film, what is your next plan of action ?
I am extremely proud of the fact that I am ambitious to be an achiever. I don’t know what the end game is and I think creativity should not have a limit. Creativity morphs and evolves from one thing to another. I didn’t know I was a creative person until I joined the movies. I used to do theatre in school but nobody took it seriously. Then I learnt on the job that I can sing, I can write and I also started producing films. It was a self-discovery for me. So I have never had a plan about where my career should go. The only thing I know is that when I get the opportunity, I will work 100% on it. I don’t slack. And if you consistently give your 100% to everything you’ll see the result.
Would you also agree that ‘luck’ has played an important part in your decade-long career?
I don’t think it is just luck. I work very hard for what I have achieved. I am destiny’s favourite child for sure. I get opportunities. But these opportunities have come to a lot of people many a time. What makes me different is that I don’t take my job or my stardom for granted. There are over 6 billion people in the world and very few become actors and very few have the thirst for knowledge. I have always been good at learning.
But aren’t you worried about losing out on Bollywood projects as you will be spending a lot of time in the West?
Naturally. But I can’t do everything. And that breaks my heart. But I have a commitment. Not to Hollywood but to Quantico, because the show has been renewed for a second season. So I will be gone for 6 months. The rest of the year is for films – whether that is Hindi or English films, I will decide. This year, I have taken up Baywatch and I will take on another Hindi film. The next year, I may do two Hindi or English films, it all depends on what I’m offered. But as long as people want to watch me in Hindi cinema, I will be there. This is my heart and soul.