Today, Priyanka Chopra has become a global name after her debut in the West. However, her manager Anjula Acharia has revealed that people laughed at the idea initially, calling her crazy and stupid to think about introducing a “brown Bollywood star in America”.
Priyanka’s manager recalls doubts over her debut in the West
Recently, Priyanka Chopra’s manager Anjula Acharia joined an episode of The Ok Sweetie Show where she reflected on the skepticism she faced while pitching a “brown Bollywood star” to Hollywood in the run-up to Quantico.
Looking back at the time when she was introducing Priyanka to the West, Anjula recalled, “People told me I was stupid when I bought Priyanka. Everyone was like, ‘you can’t break a brown Bollywood star in America’. I went to Jimmy (Jimmy Iovine: the cofounder of Interscope Records) because we had signed her together through a label deal… I was having one of my insecure moments. There weren’t very many, and I was like, ‘Jimmy, people are saying that I’m crazy’, and he goes, do you know everyone thought I was crazy when I wanted to launch a white rapper whose name was Eminem.”
Priyanka’s rise in Hollywood
After making a name in Bollywood, Priyanka walked towards the West with a lead role in ABC’s Quantico. And she has not looked back since then. Priyanka made her Hollywood debut in a negative role with Baywatch, which also featured Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. The actor went on to be part of projects such as Matrix: Revolutions, Citadel, Love Again and Isn’t It Romantic. At the moment, Priyanka stays in the US with her husband Nick Jonas. They have a daughter together, Malti Marie.
Priyanka’s upcoming work
Priyanka will soon be seen in R-rated pirate adventure The Bluff as Bloody Mary along with her co-star Karl Urban. The film will debut on Prime Video on February 25. She is also set to return to Indian cinema after years with SS Rajamouli’s Telugu film Varanasi, which also stars Mahesh Babu and Prithviraj Sukumaran. The film will be released in theatres for Sankranthi 2027. Priyanka also has the second season of the web series Citadel in the pipeline.