Priyanka Chopra has always been vocal about her struggles as an outsider in Bollywood. The global star recently opened up about how difficult it was to break into an industry dominated by generational actors and filmmakers, and how those experiences pushed her to start her own production house.
Speaking at a recent event
Recently, the actress attended an event where she spoke about her journey as an outsider in Bollywood and what led her to start her own production house. She launched Purple Pebble Pictures in 2015, and now, a video from the event has surfaced on Reddit.
Breaking into Bollywood
Talking about why she decided to go behind the camera, Priyanka said, “I won a beauty pageant in the year 2000 and that sort of kickstarted me into the entertainment industry and catapulted me into it. And I started working in Indian movies, Hindi and Tamil movies in India,… This was in 2002, but the Bollywood industry is kind of… was at least extremely closed off to people coming from outside.”
Ambition and persistence
She added, “There are generational actors, generational directors, generational producers. So when you want to break into the industry and get cast, it wasn’t the easiest, but somehow I broke through. I was ambitious. I don’t like failing. I was persistent. I kept at it. I made it somehow. And when I did, Purple Pebble Pictures was my way of creating that space that I never had.”Priyanka shared that her aim was to create opportunities for filmmakers and writers who might not get a chance with big-budget movies, and to support smaller films that deserved wider recognition.PC shared, “I wanted to be the shoulder for entertainers around the world to be able to get the limelight that they want. I’ve been very proud of the films that we’ve been associated with and produced over time. They’ve been wonderfully received and, and have give the limelight that they deserved.”
Upcoming projects
Meanwhile, on the work front, Priyanka is also set to make her comeback to Indian films with SS Rajamouli’s SSMB 29, co-starring Mahesh Babu and Prithviraj Sukumaran. Touted to be an Indiana Jones-style action-adventure, the film is currently in production.
