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Chopra made her acting debut with the 2002 Tamil film Thamizhan. The following year, she made her Bollywood film debut with The Hero: Love Story of a Spy and followed it with the hit Andaaz, for which she won a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. In 2004, she became the second woman to win the Filmfare Best Villain Award, which she received for her critically acclaimed performance in Aitraaz. Chopra would later have commercial success with films like Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Krrish (2006) and Don – The Chase Begins Again. Chopra earned a Filmfare Best Actress Award and a National Film Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of a model in Fashion (2008) and has thus established herself as one of the leading contemporary actresses in Bollywood.
Early life and background
Chopra was born in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand to Ashok Chopra and Madhu Akhauri, both physicians by profession. Chopra spent her childhood in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh; Newton, Massachusetts; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Her father was in the army and thus her family moved quite frequently. Her father hailed from a family of Punjabi origin, settled in Bareilly and her mother comes from a family, settled in Jamshedpur. She also has a brother, Siddharth, who is seven years younger than she is.
Chopra studied at La Martiniere Girls' School in Lucknow as a young girl. These frequent re-locations took place as her father was a physician in the Indian Army. She subsequently re-located to the U.S. where she studied in Newton South High School in Newton, Massachusetts and then in John F. Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She returned to India and did her high school at Army School in Bareilly. She began college at Jai Hind College in Mumbai but left after winning the Miss World pageant.
Chopra came in second place at Femina Miss India 2000 competition winning the Femina Miss India World title and subsequently being sent to Miss World where she was crowned Miss World 2000. In the same year, Lara Dutta and Dia Mirza, both also from India, won the Miss Universe and Miss Asia Pacific crowns respectively, in a rare triple victory for one country.
When Chopra won the Miss World crown, she became the fifth Indian woman to win the title, and the fourth Indian woman to win in a span of seven years.
On December 12, 2009, Chopra was present as a judge for the Miss World 2009 competition held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Acting career
Chopra made her debut in the 2002 Tamil film Thamizhan playing the role of Priya, the love interest of the protaginist in the film played by Vijay. The film was praised for its wit, although the depth of Chopra's character was seen as lacking. Chopra also sang playback in the film, singing "Ullathai Killadhe" along with Vijay.
In 2003, she appeared in her first Bollywood film, opposite Sunny Deol and Preity Zinta in the Anil Sharma film The Hero: Love Story of a Spy. She played a supporting role as a doctor named Shaheen in a film The New York Times described as "ripping its text from the seething border tensions between India and Pakistan, spicing its conflict with hot-tempered religious zealots bent on nuclear havoc". Despite being one of the highest grossing films of that year, the overall film was not well received by critics, Chopra was awarded mostly good reviews for her debut Hindi performance. Later that year she appeared in Raj Kanwar's Andaaz, playing the character of Jiya who falls in love with Raj Malhotra, played by Akshay Kumar. The film was a considerable box office success, earning her a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award and a nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. Rediff.com said of her role, "Priyanka clicks with the audience thanks to her skimpy outfits".
Her next few films released in 2004 like Plan, Kismat and Asambhav performed poorly at the box office. Later that year she appeared in David Dhawan's romantic comedy Mujhse Shaadi Karogi playing the role of a young fashion designer Rani along with Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar, the film turned out to be the third highest grossing film of that year. She next starred in Aitraaz. It was her first negative role. Her performance won critical acclaim[ and earned a Filmfare Best Villain Award. She also received a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for the role. Film critic, Subhash K Jha, noted: "A star is born! As the predatory social-climbing seductress who can go to any length to satiate her lust for life, Priyanka Chopra rocks the scene like never before. The film is undoubtedly a triumph for Priyanka Chopra. With half a smile, a twitch of her lip and a movement of her eyebrow she seems to slip into her man-eater's role with captivating ease". In the same year, she participated in a world tour titled Temptations 2004 with other Bollywood actors, including Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta and Arjun Rampal.
In 2005, she starred in six films. Her four films, Blackmail, Karam, Yakeen and Barsaat failed to do well. But her other two releases, Waqt: The Race Against Time and Bluffmaster did decent business at the box office. In 2006, Chopra starred in two of the most successful films of the year - Krrish and Don – The Chase Begins Again. Then in 2007 she starred in Nikhil Advani's ensemble piece, Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love. The movie failed to do well at the box office. Chopra's next release; the much delayed, Big Brother also underperformed.
Chopra as a supermodel in Madhur Bhandarkar's Fashion which won her the National Film Award for Best Actress and also the Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In 2008, Chopra featured in six films. Her first four films, Love Story 2050, God Tussi Great Ho, Chamku and Drona, failed to do well. Chopra's fifth release of the year, Madhur Bhandarkar's Fashion was a critical success. The film revolved around the fashion world and Chopra's role was that of an ambitious model. Her performance in the film was appreciated and earned her several awards for Best Actress including the National Film Award for Best Actress and also the Filmfare Best Actress Award. Film critic, Subhash K Jha said of her performance, "Her transformation from the bubbly Chandigarh girl to the super-ambitious supermodel, who dumps her boyfriend and conscience to pursue her dreams, is achieved with a gentle subtlety and bridled passion. This is Priyanka’s coming-of-age film. She looks like a zillion bucks. And acts like a woman who connects with the darkest, most desperate human emotions without wallowing in them." Chopra's final release of the year was Tarun Mansukhani's romantic comedy Dostana. The film was a moderate financial success. Her performance was praised by the critics, with Rajeev Masand stating: "Priyanka Chopra, is at complete ease, slipping effortlessly into the role of the hottie-with-a-heart-of-gold; she looks smashing in this film, better than she's ever looked before."
In 2009, she appeared in Vishal Bhardwaj's Kaminey alongside Shahid Kapoor, playing the role of a feisty Marathi girl named Sweety. Her performance in the film was described by critic Taran Adarsh: "Priyanka is first-rate. She's so much in sync with her character. Also, she gets the Maharashtrian accent perfect".
She subsequently appeared in Ashutosh Gowariker's What's Your Raashee?, a film in which Chopra became the first actress in the world to portray 12 distinct characters on screen. She is being considered for inclusion in an upcoming edition of Guinness World Records for this feat. The film itself, however, was a financial and critical failure. But, Chopra's performance in the film was highly appreciated by the critics, film critic Taran Adarsh said: "What's Your Raashee? belongs to Priyanka Chopra. No two opinions on that. Words would fail to do justice to the remarkable portrayal of twelve different characters by this actor. This is her finest work to date."
In 2010, Chopra appeared in Jugal Hansraj's Pyaar Impossible where she portrayed the role of a college beauty who eventually falls in love with a geek. The film was a financial and critical failure. Her next release, Siddharth Anand's Anjaana Anjaani alongside Ranbir Kapoor, got a good initial response at the box office, but was not well received by the critics. She was also appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2010.
Chopra has completed working on Vishal Bhardwaj's 7 Khoon Maaf, in which she plays the role of a woman, who bumps off her seven husbands. She has recently completed the first schedule of Farhan Akhtar's Don 2 – The Chase Continues alongside Shahrukh Khan in Berlin. And she has also been finalized for Anurag Basu's Barfee alongside Ranbir Kapoor, in which she reportedly plays the role of a mentally challenged girl. And recently, she has also confirmed that she will be doing Agneepath remake and Krrish 2 alongside Hrithik Roshan.
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