How Priyanka Chopra got her groove back

Priyanka Chopra’s name always featured among the top three actresses next to Katrina Kaif and Kareena Kapoor. But that changed two years ago. Suddenly the actress seemed to have lost her foothold. In 2012, she had only two releases. She had no films with any of the three Khans, or even a Devgn and Kumar for that matter. Her fall-out with Karan Johar ensured that she was even out of the party scene and a certain well-known star address in Bandra. But then everything changes. The actress who had been written off, made a dazzling come back. Here’s looking at how PC did it.

Letting her work speak
Her performance in Barfi! got her rave reviews and reminded her critics and detractors just how talented an actress she was. Suddenly, there was renewed interest in her work. While everyone was speculating on the fact that she had no other film apart from the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer in which he had the author-backed role, she concentrated her energies to breathing life into Jhilmil.

Her character touched a chord and suddenly filmmakers began knocking on her doors. And it has to be said, her performance in the Anurag Basu film was one of the better performances of last year. This year she stars in the big Diwali release Krissh 3 with Hrithik Roshan.

Age is just a number
For whatever reasons if the A-list actors didn’t want to work with her, that didn’t faze PC. She decided to do the next best thing. She signed films with younger heroes — the future stars. Other actresses have worked with younger heroes too —  Kareena (Ek Main Aur Tu) and Katrina (Mere Brother Ki Dulhan) but Piggy Chops went a step ahead and signed a film with not one, but two young actors — Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. And then there’s also Zanjeer with south star Ram Charan. It was reported that she got a whopping Rs7 crore for the project. If that’s not big, what is! Says trade analyst Taran Adarsh, “While working with Arjun and Ranveer she’s assured of a tagda role. In films with the bigger heroes the focus will be on them.”

The YRF-Balaji nod
Priyanka Chopra not only landed Gunday with Yash Raj films, she even got a film from Ekta Kapoor, who is a self-confessed Katrina Kaif admirer. When Ekta cast PC in one of her favourite subjects — Milan Talkies — it added more power to her second flight. Please note that Kareena and Katrina still have to sign a Balaji biggie.

And what has worked in PC’s favour is that director Tigmanshu Dhulia is the new darling of the industry, following his National Award for Paan Singh Tomar. Moreover, she is playing the title role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s biopic on Olympic bronze mediallist Mary Kom. Hollywood actress Hillary Swank, who played the role of a boxer in Million Dollar Baby (2004) walked away with an Oscar for her role. Punters are willing to bet that Priyanka, who is also a National Award winner will be a top contender for the same when this film releases.

Taran believes, “Priyanka is smart to sign a bio-pic which revolves around her. She is not limiting herself to a particular actor but increasing her span as an actress.”

The BIG endorsement
Priyanka recently featured in a Pepsi ad. Now everyone knows the cola giants only rope in the top actresses. PC is hot property today as she is much more than an actress. She is a singer with an international album, she is a socially conscious citizen (she is part of the Green campaign), a doting daughter who has been by her dad’s side when he is battling with a life threatening disease. Her new relationship also lends weight to her growing status. 

People’s darling
She has a whopping 3,552,699 fans on Twitter, beating other twitter ladies like Sonam Kapoor (2,153,525) and Deepika Padukone (3,155,452). Adds Taran, “When I ask producers about Priyanka’s growing popularity they tell me that while she’s good-looking and talented what they find best about her is thorough professionalism. When you have that reputation, hits or flops don’t matter and filmmakers will repeat you. That is one major advantage that she has. Everyone loves her.”

The song
Priyanka released her first international single album In My City. In July 2012, she became the first B-Towner to be signed by Los Angeles-based Creative Artists Agency. To work on her album, Chopra collaborated with Sam Watters, Matthew Koma and Jay Sean. In My City, debuted in the US on September 13, 2012 on the NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football. The song sold more than 1,30,000 copies in India its first week. Taran says, “With her single album she is going beyond the boundaries of our country and exploring new avenues and not just dancing at shows or awards.”

The item song
Following the footsteps of her rivals Kareena (Fevicol Se in Dabangg 2) and Katrina (Chikni Chameli in Agneepath) PC agreed to do an item song Babli Badmaash Hai for Ekta Kapoor’s Shootout At Wadala. The song garnered 43 lakh hits in 20 days!

Shaadi ke side effects
Kareena Kapoor’s marriage last year gave a further impetus to Priyanka’s rising career. It’s a well-known fact that when a leading actress gets married everyone from top heroes and producers shy away from her. Those roles are now being offered to PC. Trade expert Komal Nahata, however, believes, “I wouldn’t say Priyanka is at the top, but I would defintely add that she is back in the reckoning.

I think her strategy worked for her and because of that she’s in a much better position today. She went global with her album which has given her a lot of visibility. In today’s times, the more you yell the more you sell and her international album got her so much media coverage. But she’s yet to sign a film with a top actor like Akshay or Salman. That will put her right on top.”