After winning Miss World 2000, Priyanka Chopra made her acting debut in Vijay’s Thamizhan. Did you know she was initially hesitant to participate in the film?
Priyanka Chopra, who made her acting debut in the 2002 Tamil film Thamizhan with Vijay, was first apprehensive to accept the role. In a recent interview with Filmygyan, Priyanka’s mother, Madhu Chopra, discussed how she persuaded her ‘obedient child’ to accept the job. Also read: When Priyanka Chopra talked about feeling ‘utterly inconsequential’
‘Priyanka has always been an obedient child.’
Madhu revealed that Priyanka did not want to work in films. She received the offer for the south Indian film through someone. When I told Priyanka about the offer, she burst into tears and stated, ‘I am not doing films.’ However, she has always been an obedient child. When I told her to accept the offer, she consented and signed the contract (with Thamizhan).”
Priyanka couldn’t initially match steps with Vijay.
Madhu continued, “When she was shooting for the film, she grew to like it. Despite her lack of familiarity with the language, she found it enjoyable. The team assisted her and showed her a lot of respect. Vijay starred in the film and is a consummate gentleman. Raju Sundaram was the choreographer. Priyanka was fine at dance, although she struggled to follow Vijay’s moves at first. She would practice with the choreographer from dawn until evening. Then she started to appreciate it. This also helped her develop her personality and realize she wanted to pursue this as a career.”
Upcoming Work
After being elected Miss World 2000, Priyanka entered the film industry, making her acting debut in Thamizhan (2002), followed by her first Bollywood feature, The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003), which costarred Sunny Deol.
Priyanka’s next projects include The Bluff, which is directed by Frank E Flowers. She recently finished filming Heads of State, a forthcoming action comedy starring Idris Elba, John Cena, and Jack Quaid.
