Priyanka Chopra was born on 18 July 1982 in Jamshedpur, Bihar (now in Jharkhand), to Ashok and Madhu Chopra, both physicians in the Indian Army.[3][4] Her father was a Punjabi from Ambala.[5][6] Her mother, from Jharkhand, is the eldest daughter of Ms. Madhu Jyotsna Akhouri, a former member of Bihar Legislative Assembly, and Dr. Manohar Kishan Akhouri, a former Congress veteran.[7][8] Chopra has a brother, Siddharth, who is seven years her junior[9] and actresses Parineeti Chopra, Meera Chopra and Mannara Chopra are her cousins.[10] Due to her parents' occupations the family relocated to a number of places in India, including Delhi, Chandigarh, Ambala, Ladakh, Lucknow, Bareilly, and Pune.[11] Among the schools she attended were La Martiniere Girls' School in Lucknow[12] and St. Maria Goretti College in Bareilly.[13][14] In an interview published in Daily News and Analysis, Chopra said that she did not mind travelling regularly and changing schools; she welcomed it as a new experience and a way to discover India's multicultural society.[15] Among the many places that she lived, Chopra has fond memories as a child of playing in the valleys of Leh, in the cold northwestern Indian desert region of Jammu and Kashmir. She has said, "I think I was in Class 4 when I was in Leh. My brother was just born. My dad was in the army and was posted there. I stayed in Leh for a year and my memories of that place are tremendous ... We were all army kids there. We weren't living in houses, we were in bunkers in the valley and there was a stupa right on top of a hill which used to overlook our valley. We used to race up to the top of the stupa".[16] She now considers Bareilly her home town, and maintains strong connections there.[17]

Priyanka Chopra and her family are looking towards the camera.

Chopra with her parents and brother in 2012

At the age of thirteen, Chopra moved to the United States to study, living with her aunt, and attending schools in Newton, Massachusetts, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after a stop in Queens, New York, as her aunt's family also moved frequently.[18][19] While in Massachusetts, she participated in several theatre productions and studied Western classical music, choral singing and Kathak dance.[20] During her teenage years in America, Chopra sometimes faced racial issues and was bullied for being Indian.[21][22] She has said, "I was a gawky kid, had low self-esteem, came from a modest middle-class background, had white marks on my legs ... But I was damn hard working. Today, my legs sell 12 brands."[22]

After three years, Chopra returned to India, finishing the senior year[18][19] of her high-school education at the Army Public School in Bareilly.[23][24] During this period, she won the local "May Queen" beauty pageant,[25] after which she was pursued by admirers, leading her family to equip their home with bars for her protection.[19] Her mother then entered her in the Femina Miss India contest of 2000;[26] she finished second,[a] winning the Femina Miss India World title.[29] Chopra then went on to the Miss World pageant, where she was crowned Miss World 2000 and Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty—Asia & Oceania at the Millennium Dome in London on 30 November 2000.[27][30][31] Chopra was the fifth Indian contestant to win Miss World, and the fourth to do so in seven years.[27][32] She had enrolled in college, but left after winning the Miss World pageant.[14][25] Chopra said that the Miss India and Miss World titles brought her recognition, and she then began receiving offers for film roles.[20][33]

Chopra has maintained a strong relationship with her family, including her younger brother, Siddharth, and lives in an apartment on the same floor as her family.[3][34] She was especially close to her father, who died in June 2013;[35] in 2012, she got a tattoo reading "Daddy's lil girl", in his handwriting.[24][36] Having not come from a film background, she describes herself as a self-made woman.[37] Her mother, a well-established gynaecologist in Bareilly, gave up her practice to support Chopra as she embarked upon a film career.[38][39]

Recent work (2014–present)

The following year, Chopra starred in Zoya Akhtar's Dil Dhadakne Do, an ensemble comedy-drama alongside Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma and Farhan Akhtar. The film tells the story of a dysfunctional Punjabi family (the Mehras), who invite their family and friends on a cruise trip to celebrate the parents' 30th wedding anniversary. She portrayed the role of Ayesha Mehra, a successful entrepreneur and the eldest child. Both the film and her performance attracted positive reviews. Pratim D. Gupta from The Telegraphconsidered Chopra to be one of the winners of the film and wrote "From the propah body language to the measured speech [...] shows the kind of depth she is able to bring to her lines and characters these days.^[138] Rajiv Vijayakar of India-West wrote "Dil Dhadakne Do happily boasts stellar performances. Topping the list is the nuanced, magnificent work of Priyanka Chopra as Ayesha. Her tiny expressions and nuances, as well as her vocal inflections truly bring her character alive."^[139] Chopra won the Screen Award for Best Ensemble Cast, and was nominated for the Screen Award for Best Actress, the IIFA Award for Best Actress, and the Producers Guild Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.^[140][141]

Chopra signed a talent holding deal with ABC Studios and in February 2015 was cast in the television pilot Quantico, which was picked to series.^{[142][143][144]} The series premiered on 27 September 2015 on ABC, making Chopra the first South Asian to headline an American network thriller series.^[145] Based at the FBI Academy, the season one of Quantico follows a group of young FBI recruits, each having a specific reason for joining, one of whom will be responsible for blowing the Grand Central Terminal in the future. She plays the role of an FBI recruit, Alex Parrish, who is suspected of engineering the most devastating terrorist attack on American soil since the September 11 attacks.^[146] The series received positive reviews from television critics and Chopra was praised for her performance.^[147][148] James Poniewozik of The New York Times described Chopra as the "strongest human asset" of the show, and added that "she is immediately charismatic and commanding."^[149] She received the People's Choice Award for "Favourite Actress In A New TV Series" for her role in Quantico, becoming the first South Asian actress to win a People's Choice Award.^[150]

Chopra next portrayed Kashibai, the first wife of the maratha general Peshwa Bajirao I, in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's epic historical romance drama Bajirao Mastani. The feature opened to positive reviews, and Chopra received praise for her portrayal which several reviewers regarded as her best performance to date.^[151] Rajeev Masand wrote "the film benefits from a nice touch of playfulness and humor in Priyanka Chopra’s Kashibai. Chopra brings grace to the character, and practically steals the film."^[152] Film critic Raja Sen thought that Chopra, despite not being in the title role, owned the film, and wrote "Chopra's terrific in the part, her intelligently expressive eyes speaking volumes and her no-nonsense Marathi rhythm bang-on."^[153] A major commercial success, Bajirao Mastani grossed ₹3.5 billion (US$52 million) at the box-office, becoming one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.^[154] For her performance, she won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress, the IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress, and the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress.^[140][155] She also received a nomination for the Producers Guild Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.^[141]

In 2016, Chopra starred as a police officer in Prakash Jha's social drama Jai Gangaajal.^[156] She next produced the Marathi comedy-drama Ventilator under her production company Purple Pebble Pictures. The film received critical acclaim and performed well at the box office.^[157]

Upcoming projects

Chopra has several projects at the various stages of production. She is currently filming the second season of Quantico in New York City. She is producing a third film under her production company — the Punjabi film Sarvann, which is scheduled to release in December 2016.^[158] Chopra has completed her work on Seth Gordon's action comedy Baywatch, in which she will play the main antagonist opposite Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron.^[159]

Chopra's main vocal influence was her father, who she said was "an incredible singer", and helped develop her interest in singing.^[160][161] She used her vocal talent early in her pageantry career.^[162] Her first recording, the song "Ullathai Killathe" in the Tamil film Thamizhan (2002), was made at the urging of her director and co-star, Vijay (who had noticed her singing on the set).^[163] She declined to sing playback for "Tinka Tinka" in her film Karam (2005), preferring to concentrate on her acting career, but later sang the song live on the television programme Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.^[164] Chopra recorded an unreleased song for Bluffmaster! (2005).^[165] In August 2011, Universal Music Group signed Chopra to a worldwide recording agreement with DesiHits. The deal indicated that her first studio album would be released by Interscope Records in North America and by Island Records elsewhere.^[166]

In July 2012, Chopra became the first Bollywood star signed by Creative Artists Agency, an entertainment and sports agency based in Los Angeles.^[167] Travelling to the United States to work on her album, Chopra collaborated with Sam Watters, Matthew Koma and Jay Sean. The album will be produced by RedOne.^[168][169] Her first single, "In My City", debuted in the US on 13 September 2012 in a TV spot for the NFL Network's Thursday Night Football, 12 hours after the full song debuted in India;^[170] a shortened version of the song was used to open each show of the season. "In My City" features rapper will.i.am; according to Chopra, a co-writer,^[169] the song was inspired by her unsettled childhood and her journey from a small-town girl to a celebrity.^[11] "In My City" trended at number one on Twitter several minutes after release.^[171] The song received mixed reviews from critics, and was a commercial success in India; it sold more than 130,000 copies in its first week, topped the Hindi pop chart and was certified triple platinum.^[169][172] In the United States the single was unsuccessful, with 5,000 digital downloads in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan, and did not receive radio play.^[169] In October 2012, the single won her the Best International Debut award at the People's Choice Awards India.^[173] In December 2012, she received three nominations: Best Female Artist, Best Song and Best Video (for "In My City") at the World Music Awards.^[174] She also received the Trailblazer Award from the South Asian Media, Marketing and Entertainment Association for becoming the first Bollywood actor to win a major record deal in the U.S.^[4] Chopra was also a featured artist on "Erase", an EDM song produced by the American DJ and producer duo The Chainsmokers.^[175][176]

In July 2013, Chopra released her second single "Exotic" featuring American rapper Pitbull, along with its music video.^{[177][178][179]} "Exotic" debuted at number 16 on the BillboardDance/Electronic Songs and number 11 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Songs chart in the 27 July 2013 issue.^[180] The single also entered at number 74 on the Canadian Hot 100chart. "Exotic" debuted at number 44 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart and peaked at number 12.^[181] Her third single, a cover of Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me" was released in April 2014.^[182] The song's accompanying video was released around the same time.^[183] The song peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.^[184]

Chopra's first song as a playback singer in Bollywood was "Chaoro", a lullaby from Mary Kom (2014).^[185] In 2015, she sang the title song, a duet with Farhan Akhtar, for Dil Dhadakne Do.^[186] She recorded a promotional song for Ventilator (2016), making her Marathi language playback singing debut with "Baba".^[187]

Chopra supports various causes related to the girl child through her foundation "The Priyanka Chopra Foundation for Health and Education", which works towards providing support to unprivileged children across the country in the areas of Education and Health.^[188] She donates ten percent of her earnings to fund the foundation’s operations, and pays for educational and medical expenses for seventy children in India, fifty among whom are girls.^[189] She often speaks out on women's issues: against female infanticide and foeticide, and in support of education for girls.^[190] A believer in feminism, Chopra has always been vocal about women's rights, gender equality, and gender pay inequality.^{[191][192][193]} In 2006, a "day with Chopra" was auctioned on eBay; the proceeds were donated to an NGO, Nanhi Kali, which helps educate girls in India.^[194]She has made appearances in support of other charities, such as the 2005 HELP! Telethon Concert to raise funds for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.^[195]

She has worked with UNICEF since 2008, recording public-service announcements and participating in media panel discussions promoting children's rights and the education of girls, and also participated in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.^[196] She was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights on 10 August 2010.^[197][198] UNICEF Representative Karin Hulshof said of the appointment: "She is equally passionate about her work on behalf of children and adolescents. We are proud of the work she has done with us so far on child rights, and, we are thrilled about all what we will be doing together so that no child gets left behind."^[199] In 2009, she shot a documentary for the organisation Alert India to increase understanding of leprosy.^[200] She modelled for designer Manish Malhotraand Shaina NC's charity fashion show to raise funds for the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) NGO.^[201] In 2010 Chopra was one of several celebrities who created promotional messages for Pearls Wave Trust, which campaigns against violence and abuse of women and girls.^[202] Chopra also launched the "Save the Girl Child" campaign, which aims to change the attitudes of Indians towards girls.^[203] In 2012 Chopra spoke at the launch of Awakening Youth, an anti-addiction programme.^[204]

Chopra is a supporter of environmental charities and is brand ambassador for NDTV Greenathon, an initiative to support eco-friendliness and provide solar power to rural villages without electricity supplies.^[205] She appeared with children in an animated video to support the cause,^[206] and removed rubbish from the banks of the Yamuna river in Agra to increase awareness of environmental issues.^[207] During the third and fourth editions of Greenathon, She adopted up to seven villages to provide with a regular supply of electricity.^[208][209] She adopted a tigress in 2011 and a lioness in 2012 at the Birsa biological park, paying for both animals' upkeep for a year.^[210] To promote organ donation, Chopra pledged to donate her own organs after death and was co-keynote speaker at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Bollywood-themed 20th-anniversary celebration of its liver-transplant programme in 2012.^[211][212]

She donated ₹5 million (US$74,000) to Nanavati hospital to build a cancer ward. The ward, which is named after her late father, was inaugurated by her in 2013.^[213] The same year, she provided voice-over in English and Hindi for the documentary film Girl Rising for the organisation of the same name.^[214] She was invited as one of the speakers alongside Gordon Brown, Steve Wozniak, Bill Clinton, and Charlie Baker for the 50th anniversary of the World Leaders Conference at the Hynes Convention Center, Boston. She spoke about women empowerment through education, discussing inequality and the challenges of education for women, and received a standing ovation for her speech.^[215]Chopra also lent her voice to a music video of John Lennon's "Imagine". The video featuring her along with other singers, including Katy Perry, and The Black Eyed Peas was created as part of a global campaign by UNICEF to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.^[216] Indian prime minister Narendra Modi selected Chopra as one of his nine nominees called "Navratna" in 2014 for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a national cleanliness campaign by the Government of India.^[217] She lent her support to the campaign by cleaning and rehabilitating a garbage-laden neighbourhood in Mumbai, and urged people to maintain the cleanliness.^[218] In 2015, she voiced People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA's) life-size robotic elephant named "Ellie", who visited schools across the United States and Europe to educate kids about elephants and captivity, and to urge people to boycott circuses.^[219]

In 2007, Chopra was on the judges' panel of the Miss India pageant. She stated, "Miss India will always remain special. That's where it all started for me. And maybe that's where it would've ended if I hadn't won the crown."^[220] She also served as a judge at Miss World 2009.^[221][222] In 2010, she hosted the third season of the reality show Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi on the Colors channel, taking over from previous host Akshay Kumar.^[223] According to contestants, in hosting the series, Chopra had "transformed into quite a whip-wielding dictator", relentlessly pushing the contestants to work.^[223] She performed most of her own stunts, adamant to prove that she could rival Akshay Kumar, who had hosted the previous two seasons.^[223] The opening ratings of the show topped those of the two previous seasons.^[224] The show was praised by critics, and earned her the Indian Telly Award for Most Impactful Debut on Television.^[225][226] She visited Jawan troops in Tenga, in eastern India, for a special episode of the NDTV show Jai Jawan celebrating the 60th anniversary of India's independence.^[227] In February 2016, Chopra presented the award for Best Film Editing at the 88th Academy Awards.^[228]

Chopra has participated in a number of world tours and concerts. She took part in a world concert tour, "Temptations 2004", and performed with other Bollywood actors (including Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta and Arjun Rampal) in 19 stage shows.^[229] In 2011, she participated (with Shahid Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan) in a concert in Durban, South Africa celebrating 150 years of India–South Africa friendship.^[230] In 2012, she performed at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai in the opening ceremony of the fifth season of cricket's Indian Premier League with Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Katy Perry.^[231] The same year, she performed at Dubai Festival City's Ahlan Bollywood Concert with other Bollywood stars such as Salman Khan and Sophie Choudry.^[232]

Chopra began writing an opinion column, "The Priyanka Chopra Column", for the Hindustan Times in 2009. She wrote a total of fifty columns for the newspaper. She said after her first year of writing: "I'm a private person and never thought that I could express my feelings. But strangely enough, whenever I sat down to write this column, my inner most thoughts came to the fore."^[233] In March 2009, she met several readers who had submitted feedback on her weekly column.^[234] She continued to write sporadically for newspapers. In August 2012 she wrote a column published in The Times of India titled "No woman in Mumbai feels safe any longer", discussing the murder of 25-year-old Pallavi Purkayastha,^[235] whom she met while working on Don.^[24] In the article, Chopra expressed her views about the safety of women in cities. She wrote: "The magnitude of this crime can perhaps only truly be understood by a woman. It has much larger ramifications. We can't allow this to happen. We have to, in whichever way we can, ensure that what happened with Pallavi does not happen again. We need to remind ourselves that we women today are a vital contributor to the growth of the new India."^[235]

In a July 2014 article published in The Guardian, she criticised female genital mutilation and child marriage. She wrote: "These practices violate the fundamental rights of girls and women, and hold back social and economic development that would benefit children, communities and countries. Child marriage and FGM destroy childhoods, disrupt schooling, leave girls at higher risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes, and contribute to a cycle of poverty."^[236] In December 2014, Chopra wrote an op-ed for The New York Timestitled "What Jane Austen Knew" about the importance of education for girls. She praised and quoted Nobel Peace Prize winners Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, and described how her desire to help others was triggered when, at just nine years old, she joined her parents while they volunteered their spare time to offer modern health care to the rural poor.^[237] In late 2014, Chopra began writing a monthly column, "Pret-a-Priyanka", for "Elle.com". In an article published in January 2015, she expressed her views on diversity and being a global citizen.^[238]

Chopra has been described by the critics as one of the most talented actresses in Bollywood.^[239] Analysing Chopra's career highlights, Bollywood Hungama noted: "Despite a career that has seen a constant flip-flop  [...] the performer in her has seen a constant growth with every passing year."^[48] After playing strong characters in a series of films, she gained recognition for her versatility in portraying a range of unconventional roles, leading CNN-IBN to describe her "as one of the most powerful actresses in the current lot and someone who doesn't shy away from experimenting with roles within the realms of popular cinema".^[239][240] The Times of India called her a "game changer" and added that she "made the age-old demarcation between a hero and heroine redundant and one can easily describe her as a Shero".^[241] In 2012, film critic Subhash K. Jha labelled her "the best actress in the post-Sridevi generation" and listed her character in Barfi! as being "one of the finest inwardly ravaged characters in Bollywood."^[242] Chopra has often featured on Rediff.com's annual listing of "Bollywood's Best Actresses", and was featured in their list of "Top 10 Actresses of 2000–2010".^{[88][243][244][245][246]}

Chopra is one of the highest-paid actresses in the world and one of the most popular and high-profile celebrities in India.^{[3][247][248]} She is described as a sex symbol and a style icon.^[249] Her body, figure, eye, lips and exotic looks have been cited by the media as her distinctive physical features.^{[250][251][252]} Designers Falguni and Shane Peacock wrote, "She is comfortable in her own skin and looks ravishing in whatever she wears, be it a bikini, short or long dress or even a sari."^[253] She ranks high on lists of the most influential, powerful, popular and attractive Indian celebrities. In 2006, 2012, 2014 and 2015, the UK magazine Eastern Eye ranked her first on their "World's Sexiest Asian Women" list,^[254][255] and she was featured on Verve's list of most powerful women in 2009 and 2010.^[256][257] She was named "India's Best-Dressed Woman of the Year" by People in 2011, and Maxim selected her twice (2011 and 2013) as "Hottest Girl of the Year".^[4] In 2012, she was declared the most influential Indian on the social-media circuit in a survey conducted by Pinstorm.^[258] In 2015, People featured her as one of the "Most Intriguing People of the Year".^[259] In 2016, Time named her one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" and also featured on the cover of the issue.^[260] The same year, Forbes named her the eight-highest-paid TV actress in the world.^[247]

Chopra was declared queen of brand endorsements in India, ranking second in on the list of brand ambassadors of 2008 (only after Shah Rukh Khan) in a survey conducted by TAM AdEx.^[261] The following year, she was named "India's top brand endorser" by the same agency, becoming the first woman to top the endorsement charts in India.^[49][262]Manish Porwal of Alchemist Talent Solutions said in 2012 that Chopra was a stable and dependable brand endorser, and many brands renewed their contract with her.^[49] Chopra has represented many brands, including TAG Heuer, Pepsi, Nokia, Garnier and Nestlé; she was the first female representative of Hero Honda.^[49][263] She and three other Bollywood actors (Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Hrithik Roshan) had their likenesses made into a series of miniature dolls for Hasbro and the UK-based Bollywood Legends Corporation.^[264] In 2009, Chopra became the first Indian actress to cast a foot impression at the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum in Florence, Italy, and she received custom-designed shoes from the Ferragamo house.^[3] In 2013, she became the first Indian model to represent Guess, whose CEO Paul Marciano called her "the young Sophia Loren".^[265] The actress became the first Indian actress to feature in a school textbook. Her life is described in a chapter of Roving Families, Shifting Homes, a book taught at Springdales School. The book also includes pictures of her family and the moment she was crowned Miss World in 2000.^[266]

Chopra is particularly known in the Indian media and film industry for her professionalism^[267] and is often referred to as "Piggy Chops", a nickname given her by co-stars on the set of Bluffmaster! in 2005.^[268] She is popularly referred to by the media and the film industry as "PeeCee" or simply "PC".^[269][270] Although she is known for her media-friendly attitude, Chopra is reticent to discuss details of her personal life in public.^[24] She has had a Twitter account since January 2009, and is one of the most followed Indian actresses on the platform.^[49] In 2015, Chopra appeared in The Huffington Post's "100 Most Influential Women on Twitter" list, where she was named the most influential Indian woman on Twitter.^[271]

Among Chopra's film awards are a National Film Award for Best Actress for Fashion (2008)^[79] and five Filmfare Awards: Best Female Debut for Andaaz (2003), Best Performance in a Negative Role for Aitraaz (2004), Best Actress for Fashion^[47] (2008), Critics Award for Best Actress for 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), and Best Supporting Actress for Bajirao Mastani (2015).^[155] In 2016, she received the People's Choice Award for "Favourite Actress In A New TV Series" for Quantico, making her the first South Asian actress to win a People's Choice Award.^[150] The same year, she was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, by the Government of India.^[272]