The journey of Priyanka Chopra Jonas is a story for the ages. The actress is a born achiever and dons many feathers in her cap. From winning the Miss World 2000 crown to being listed by Forbes among the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, Priyanka Chopra has been nothing short of an inspiration to young women. Today, she is not only a pageant winner and actress but also a businesswoman, a producer, an author, a philanthropist, and an ex-UNICEF goodwill ambassador for child rights. She is also an advocate of the feminist movement and has spoken about women’s empowerment through education.
Priyanka Chopra had initially aspired to become an aeronautical engineer, but fate had different plans in store for her. Priyanka Chopra’s mother entered her name in the Femina Miss India contest. After this, she was crowned Miss India World and would, later on, be crowned Miss World 2000. After winning the crown, she gained widespread popularity, which resulted in her tryst with acting.
Priyanka Chopra’s acting career began with the 2002 Tamil movie Thamizhan, after which she made her Bollywood debut in Anil Sharma’s The Hero: Love Story of a Spy. Her performance in the movie earned Priyanka her first Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Post the success of this, she went on to star in other commercially successful movies such as Mujhse Shaadi Karoge and Aitraaz, which won her a Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role. She then rose to prominence with back-to-back blockbusters and was known for the glamour quotient that she brought to the table. In a career spanning almost two decades, Priyanka Chopra proved her acting prowess with movies such as Fashion, Barfi!, Mary Kom, Bajirao Mastani, and others.
She has also always been vocal about women’s rights and has voiced her opinions against female infanticide and foeticide. She also advocates for gender equality and the gender pay gap. She has also worked on campaigns that are against violence and abuse of women and girls.
Variety honoured Priyanka Chopra with the Power of Women award for her philanthropic work with UNICEF in 2017. She also received the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice for her philanthropic contributions.