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Priyanka Chopra born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress, singer, producer and philanthropist, and the winner of the Miss World pageant of 2000. Through her film career, she has become one of Bollywood's highest-paid actresses and one of the most popular and high-profile celebrities in India. Chopra has been cited by various media outlets as the world's sexiest Asian woman, as well as one of the most fashionable Indian celebrities. She has received numerous awards and nominations, including a National Film Award, and five Filmfare Awards, and was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, by the Government of India in 2016.
Although Chopra initially aspired to study engineering or psychiatry, she accepted offers to join the Indian film industry, which came as a result of her pageant wins, making her acting debut in the Tamil film Thamizhan in 2002. The following year, she starred in The Hero, her first Hindi film release, and followed it with the box-office hits Andaaz and Mujhse Shaadi Karogi. She later earned wide critical praise for her breakout role in the 2004 thriller Aitraaz. By 2006, Chopra had established herself as a leading actress of Hindi cinema with leading roles in the highly successful films Krrish and Don. The 2008 drama Fashion marked a turning point in her career, earning her critical acclaim as well as the National Film Award for Best Actress and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She subsequently gained recognition for her versatility in portraying a range of unconventional characters in films such as Kaminey(2009), What's Your Raashee?(2009), 7 Khoon Maaf(2011), Barfi!(2012), Mary Kom(2014), Dil Dhadakne Do(2015), and Bajirao Mastani(2015), all of which garnered her wide critical acclaim and several accolades. In 2015, she began starring as Alex Parrish on the ABC drama Quantico, becoming the first South Asian woman to headline an American network series.
In addition to her acting career, Chopra participates in stage shows, has written columns for newspapers, and is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products. She released her first single "In My City" in 2012. Her second single "Exotic" debuted in 2013, and charted in countries such as the United States and Canada. Chopra is noted for her philanthropic activities, and was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights in 2010. She promotes various causes such as environment, health and education, women empowerment and women's rights, and is particularly vocal about women's issues, including safety, gender equality, and gender pay inequality. Though she is reticent to discuss her personal life in public, her off-screen life is the subject of substantial media coverage in India.
Chopra has been described by the critics as one of the most talented actresses in Bollywood.After playing strong, independent characters in Aitraaz(2004), Fashion(2008), Kaminey(2009), What's Your Raashee?(2009), 7 Khoon Maaf(2011) and Barfi!(2012), she gained recognition for her versatility in portraying a range of unconventional roles, leading CNN-IBN to describe her "as one of the most powerful actresses in the current lot and someone who doesn't shy away from experimenting with roles within the realms of popular cinema".The Times of India called her a "game changer" and added that she "made the age-old demarcation between a hero and heroine redundant and one can easily describe her as a Shero". Analysing Chopra's career highlights, Bollywood Hungama noted: "Despite a career that has seen a constant flip-flop . [the] performer in her has seen a constant growth with every passing year."In 2012, film critic Subhash K. Jha labelled her "the best actress in the post-Sridevi generation" and listed her character in Barfi! as being "one of the finest inwardly ravaged characters in Bollywood."Chopra has often featured on Rediff.com's annual listing of "Bollywood's Best Actresses".[243] She was ranked second in 2006 and 2008, [244][245] and number one in 2009;[246] she was in its list of "Top 10 Actresses of 2000–2010".[247]
Chopra is one of Bollywood's highest-paid actresses, [248] and considered one of the most popular and high-profile celebrities in India.[3] She is described as a sex symbol and a style icon.[249] Her body and exotic looks have been cited by AskMen as her distinctive physical features.[250] Designers Falguni and Shane Peacock wrote, "She is comfortable in her own skin and looks ravishing in whatever she wears, be it a bikini, short or long dress or even a sari."[251] Chopra has embraced the fashions of international designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Alberta Ferretti, and brought attention to young Indian fashion designers, by wearing their garments.[252] She ranks high on lists of the most powerful, popular and attractive Indian celebrities. In 2006, 2012, 2014 and 2015, the UK magazine Eastern Eye placed her first on their "World's Sexiest Asian Women" list, and she was featured on Verve's list of most powerful women in 2009 and 2010.Chopra was ranked first on the Times of India's list of the 50 most-desirable women in 2008, and third the following year. Chopra was named "India's Best-Dressed Woman of the Year" by People, and Maxim selected her as "Hottest Girl of the Year" in 2011.The following year, she was declared the most influential Indian on the social-media circuit in a survey conducted by Pinstorm.[259] In a 2012 interview with The Times of India, Chopra professed to have always "wanted to be the sum of more than just my movies" and said that she aspires to acquire a persona like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. She remarked that "I imbibe from people I work with and I want to be like them", and cited Mumtaz, Marilyn Monroe, and Audrey Hepburn as fashion inspirations
