Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Priyanka Chopra Jonas (born July 18, 1982, Jamshedpur (previously part of Bihar, now in Jharkhand), India) is an Indian actress, model, and singer known for her work in Bollywood and Hollywood. After she was crowned Miss World in 2000, she made her acting debut in India and rose to prominence in Bollywood. She became known to Western audiences through her role in the American TV series Quantico (2015–18). In 2016 she was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honor.

Early life and family

Chopra was born into a Punjabi family in southern Bihar state (in the area that became part of Jharkhand state in 2000). Her parents were medical doctors serving in the armed forces, and the family moved frequently throughout her childhood. While visiting family in the United States in 1995, she decided to stay with an aunt in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and attend school there. The following year she went to live with an uncle in New York City and later in Newton, Massachusetts. Upon returning to India in 1998, Chopra began preparing for an education in aerospace engineering. In the meantime, her family saw an advertisement for the Miss India pageant and submitted her photographs to the organizers.

Miss World win and acting debut

The 2000 Miss India competition proved to be the gateway to Chopra’s celebrity. She was named first runner-up and went on to participate in that year’s Miss World contest, where she was crowned the winner. She was quickly cast in four feature-length films in India but was dropped from two of the projects after producers learned that her nasal bridge had collapsed during a surgical polyp removal. One project, Thamizhan (2002; “Tamil”), retained her as the female lead. Thamizhan was her debut and, as of 2025, also her only Tamil film. For her first Hindi-language movie, The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003), the director recast her from a leading role to a supporting one after learning of her surgery.

Rise to prominence and Bollywood stardom

In 2003 Chopra appeared in her first Bollywood box-office success, the romantic drama Andaaz (“Style”). She gained more attention with the romantic comedy Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004; “Will You Marry Me”). The same year, Chopra’s portrayal of a woman who falsely accuses a former lover of sexual assault in the courtroom drama Aitraaz (“Objection”) won her much acclaim.

Chopra was subsequently cast in the commercially successful superhero film Krrish (2006) and the action thriller Don (2006). She won her first National Film Award in the best actress category for her role as an aspiring model in Fashion (2008), which explored the harsh reality beneath the glamorous facade of the fashion industry. Chopra’s next notable credits were the romantic comedy Dostana (2008; “Friendship”) and the action drama Kaminey (2009; “Scoundrels”). She showcased her versatility in What’s Your Raashee? (2009), for which she played 12 characters, each representing a different sign of the zodiac (or rashi in Sanskrit).

In 2011 Chopra appeared in Don 2, the hit sequel to Don, and the crime thriller 7 Khoon Maaf (“7 Sins Forgiven”). In 2012 she was in the box-office hit Agneepath (“Path of Fire”). Chopra’s performance in Barfi! (2012), in which she portrayed an autistic woman, was highly lauded. She delivered a few more hits in the 2010s, such as Krrish 3 (2013), the sequel to Krrish, the action drama Gunday (2014; “Outlaws”), the biopic Mary Kom (2014), the romantic comedy-drama Dil Dhadakne Do (2015; “Let the Heart Beat”), the historical romantic tragedy Bajirao Mastani (2015), and the drama The Sky Is Pink (2019).

International fame

About 2010 Chopra began working with Anjula Acharia, an entrepreneur and talent manager. Acharia brought Chopra to the attention of Lady Gaga’s management team in 2011, and Chopra signed with Interscope Records (a label under the Universal Music Group umbrella). Her singles with the label featured such singers as will.i.am in “In My City” (2012) and Pitbull in “Exotic” (2013), but her music career in the United States never really took off.

Access for the whole family!

Bundle Britannica Premium and Kids for the ultimate resource destination.

Subscribe

In 2014 a senior casting executive at the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) reportedly traveled to Chopra’s home in India to persuade her to sign a deal for television work. As a result, she appeared in Quantico (2015–18), playing the leading role of an FBI recruit turned suspect. The prime-time network drama was the first on American network television to feature a person of South Asian descent as a lead. She made her Hollywood film debut with the action comedy Baywatch (2017) and later appeared in the drama A Kid Like Jake (2018) and the romantic comedy Isn’t It Romantic (2019). Her Netflix debut was in the superhero film We Can Be Heroes (2020). Her later acting credits include the crime drama The White Tiger (2021), the science fiction film The Matrix Resurrections (2021), and the romantic drama Love Again (2023).

Social work and production venture

Chopra has been a vocal advocate and philanthropist for underprivileged people. In 2011 she set up the Priyanka Chopra Foundation for Health and Education to provide children in India with access to those services. Cognizant of representation and access in film, she founded the Purple Pebble Pictures production house in Mumbai in 2015 to support new talent and regional cinema in India. The company has produced films in several regional languages, including Assamese, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, and Marathi. In 2016, after working for a decade for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Chopra became a UN goodwill ambassador. In 2019 Paani (released theatrically in 2024; “Water”), a Marathi film produced by Purple Pebble Pictures, won the National Film Award for best film on environment conservation/preservation.

Personal life

Chopra married Nick Jonas, the youngest member of the band the Jonas Brothers, in December 2018. She appeared with him in several music videos, including those for the Jonas Brothers’ hit singles “Sucker” (2019) and “What a Man Gotta Do” (2020). The couple has a daughter, Malti Marie Chopra Jonas, who was born in 2022 via surrogacy.