Priyanka Chopra On Leaving Bollywood At Her Peak: 'Don't Like Staying In S**t'

Global icon Priyanka Chopra Jonas quit Bollywood industry in India and moved to the US around 2015 after doing movies, such as, Mary Kom, Dil Dhadakne Do, and Bajirao Mastani, among others. She was at the peak of her career and one of the highest paid actresses in the Hindi film industry. In a recent interview, Chopra, 43, has yet again opened up about her decision to leave the industry.

Priyanka Chopra on her Hollywood journey

Priyanka recently appeared on Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast. When asked obout her decision to move to the West, the actress said that when she was working in India, she started feeling limited and wanted to explore more.

Giving examples of Mindy Kaling and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, she said that there were very few female or male Indian actors in Hollywood and less representation. "It made me think of myself as that girl who was in the 9th grade in America, where nobody looks like me… I didn’t think about it (much) at that time, but as someone who was starting to seek work in Hollywood, I thought where do I stand? How do I begin?… It came from the need to want and see what the possibilities were there."

Priyanka on leaving Bollywood

She was also asked about "tense relationships with some of the stuff going on in India with the movie scene," to which The Bluff star said nothing is easy and there are battles everyone has to deal with. "I am someone who just doesn’t like staying in the s**t because then you get used to the smell."

Priyanka, who considers herself as a "big believer in pivoting," further said, "When life gets tough, we are so resilient as human beings, we have the ability to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, take a minute to feel emotional and feel the pain, and then pivot," which she has done many times in her career.

The diva also admitted that there was no clear path in mind when she thought of venturing into the American film industry but she just gave it a shot. She knew she was a hard worker and was aware of her craft. "Put me on a set with any filmmaker or co-actor and I'll stand toe-to-toe. So I went out there and started working," she added.

Priyanka Chopra's upcoming projects

She made her comeback to the Hindi film industry with The Sky Is Pink (2019). Chopra is now making her grand comeback with SS Rajamouli's Varanasi (2027), with Mahesh Babu and Prithviraj Sukumaran.