One of the biggest female stars of our generation is Priyanka Chopra Jonas. She not only established herself in Bollywood, but also opened the route for her entry into Hollywood. The Desi girl recently disclosed that she left Bollywood because she felt trapped there and decided to pursue her career in the West.
Her recent admissions that she experienced hostility in the Hindi film industry as people stopped hiring her for roles ultimately drove her to relocate to the West have sparked discussions on how the industry functions, including its politics, nepotism, the attitude of gatekeeping, and cliques.
In an interview with Indian Express, Priyanka Chopra discussed how to make Bollywood a safe place for outsiders who lack the support of a film family. “I believe it is crucial to have discussions about opportunity and merit. There is a lot more now that we live in the era of streaming. In the recent five to 10 years, the Hindi cinema business has undergone a significant transition. You have so many skills, including non-industry authors, directors, and performers. That was definitely not the situation when I first started. Therefore, I think having discussions about how the workplace should be merit-based, have a healthy environment, and that casting should be the responsibility of the casting director rather than the politics and drama, she said.
“I believe that having such discussions is really, really crucial to ensuring that there are no camps that truly dictate casting and that it is done on the basis of merit and fan demand. I’m ecstatic to see so many fresh faces in popular Hindi-language entertainment who have entered from outside (of the film industry) and various regions of the nation. To be able to observe that in my own career brings me enormous delight. And my generation of actresses battled for it, so that’s what happened,” Priyanka continued.
Citadel, Priyanka Chopra’s massive Prima Video series, is now in production.
