If you were to ask me who is the most bad-ass Bollywood actress, I would definitely say Priyanka Chopra. There is nothing I can say about her, which hasn’t already been said. Except that she is like wine, she gets better with age (no Priyanka, I am not calling you old, just that time makes you better and better).
Almost everyone knows that she started by winning the Miss India World title and has not looked back. Here I would like to remind you of her debut movie, The Hero: Love story of a Spy; this kind of puts into perspective that she has been in the industry for 12 long years. She has come a long, long way from where she started. It’s like she keeps getting better and better, and while I am going bald at 20, she never seems to age!
Now initially in her career, she seemed like another hit-and-miss actress, with many average movies and a string of flops. But my! was she bold! She did a negative character in a movie very early in her career, she kept her head-up during the controversy with Shahrukh Khan, and the list goes on.
But there is one thing about her. She has added some extra factors to every movie that she has done and made her mark on the audience. She is the slow tortoise who keeps working hard throughout and ultimately wins the race. Even though Kaminey was a full-on Shahid Kapoor movie, you can’t forget the breeze of innocence brought by Priyanka. That’s the effect that she has wherever she goes.
For every Salaam-e-Ishq, she has done a Don. For every Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, there is a Fashion. For every Love Story 2050, she has done a Barfi!. For every Drona, she has a Dostana. For every What’s your Rashee? she has done a Saat Khoon Maaf. Currently, she is occupied shooting for Quantico and Bajirao Mastani.
She is probably one of the most versatile actresses Bollywood has ever known. And what’s more! She sings too! Just add a touch of direction skills and some poetic thoughts, and she could very well be the female Farhan Akhtar. Well, actually, I think she would rather be the only Priyanka Chopra because, you see, we have a habit of measuring people with other people, which I can safely say, is one of the most detrimental things we can do.
What she did and where she is, she has done on her own. Being an outsider to being one of the top-notch actresses is a hell lot of a journey to make. She took some bold decisions and probably some bad ones, but she stuck through with her decisions and came out to be where she is.
She is one of those success stories which everyone wishes to have. She is a woman with a mind of her own and is not afraid to show it. She came into Bollywood when Bollywood was changing its perception of women. Women on screen were making a transition from being sluts or angels to being a bit of both.
Women were becoming real, and women were becoming important. And she became the face of that transition. She became the symbol of sugar, spice, everything nice combined with the X-factor. For an average Indian girl, she is the symbol of strength, a symbol of empowerment, equality, and a symbol that a woman can have independent thoughts and her own perception of right and wrong.
While talking about strong, independent women, I have to mention another Bollywood actress and Miss Universe Sushmita Sen. Because otherwise, it just wouldn’t be fair. These women are pioneers of women empowerment in the masses because even those who don’t follow the news follow the movies.
These are the women people look up to, for inspiration, to follow their dreams and be the person they had always wanted to be.