Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra Jonas is an Indian actress, film producer, and singer who achieved initial prominence after winning the Miss World 2000 pageant. Honored with the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2016, she is among India's highest-paid actresses and has earned two National Film Awards alongside five Filmfare Awards. She has also been featured on major international rankings, including the Time 100 list of influential people, Forbes World's 100 Most Powerful Women, and the BBC 100 Women list in 2022.

Born on July 18, 1982, in Jamshedpur, Bihar (now Jharkhand), Chopra is the daughter of Indian Army physicians Ashok and Madhu Chopra. Owing to her parents' military transfers, she lived in numerous Indian cities during her youth, including Leh, Lucknow, and Bareilly. At age thirteen, she moved to the United States for three years to attend school in Massachusetts and Iowa before returning to India to finish high school. After winning a local pageant, she became the runner-up at Femina Miss India 2000 and subsequently won the Miss World 2000 title, leading to offers in the film industry.

Chopra made her screen acting debut in the Tamil film Thamizhan (2002) and her Bollywood debut in The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003). She gained commercial success with early films like Andaaz (2003) and Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), while her antagonist role in the thriller Aitraaz (2004) served as her critical breakout performance. She further established her position in Hindi cinema by starring in major box-office hits such as Krrish (2006) and Don (2006), later appearing in their successful sequels, Don 2 (2011) and Krrish 3 (2013).

For her performance as a troubled model in the drama Fashion (2008), Chopra received both a National Film Award and a Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She earned continued praise for playing varied characters in notable films, including Kaminey (2009), 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), Barfi! (2012), Mary Kom (2014), Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), and Bajirao Mastani (2015).

Expanding into Western media, Chopra starred as Alex Parrish in the ABC series Quantico from 2015 to 2018, making history as the first South Asian actor to lead an American network drama. In 2015, she established her production company, Purple Pebble Pictures, producing films such as the Marathi releases Ventilator (2016) and Paani (2019), as well as the Hindi biopic The Sky Is Pink (2019). Her Hollywood feature roles include Baywatch (2017), Isn't It Romantic (2019), The White Tiger (2021), and The Matrix Resurrections (2021), alongside starring in the action series Citadel.

In addition to acting, Chopra has released three music singles, published a New York Times best-selling memoir titled Unfinished (2021), and launched business ventures across haircare, dining, homeware, and tech investments. A long-time advocate for women's rights and child welfare, she has partnered with UNICEF since 2006, serving as a national goodwill ambassador in 2010 and a global goodwill ambassador in 2016, in addition to running a namesake foundation for underprivileged children. She is married to American singer and actor Nick Jonas.