Priyanka Chopra Fansite

Bollywood actresses are really proving their mettle these days. Close on the heels of Aishwarya Rai and Bipasha bagging Sir Ben Kingsley’s film based on the Taj Mahal, it’s now the turn of Priyanka Chopra to steal the limelight. Now, Piggy Chops is all set to sizzle the fashion world by bagging the lead role in two time national award winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar’s film, Fashion. The film is set to go on floors by December end. Madhur will be shooting parts of the film in the fashion capitals of the world - Paris and Milan. If this isn’t enough, for the grand finale, Priyanka will walk the ramp in the centre flanked by, hold on… well none other than international supermodels Tyra Banks and Kate Moss. “It can’t get bigger than this. With Fashion, Indian films will go global in a big way. This is larger than life, we are in talks with other international and Indian top models and likely to close the deal soon,” says the associate producer of the film Ram Mirchandani. Priyanka Chopra who is shooting far away in the jungles in Namibia is elated to have bagged Madhur’s film. She told us “Madhur and I have been looking for the right opportunity to work together and I am quite happy that our first association will be with a film like Fashion.” But didn’t she initially decline to part of it? “No way, I always believed in the film. It promises to be a powerful association because it is a great combination of a script that is performance based and a director who makes very real cinema.  It’s going to be an exciting experience and I am looking forward to it,” she says.

Why has the project been delayed? ”I wanted to be sure of the script before shooting started. I have been working on the story for months on end and this is the fourth draft I have written along with my writers. But now I’m ready to show my story of fashion to the world,” says Madhur. So will he be digging out more disturbing and provoking aspects and issues on this film ala Page 3 ?  “Yes I would. My movies are issue-based, self-awakening films. As a filmmaker, I tend to go and explore things. I go where no filmmakers have gone before . Fashion will be a blend of facts and fiction, but this time the gloss will be more unlike my previous films,” he says. What’s next? “After Fashion, I will be taking a break from the women oriented films and my next movies will all be male oriented, big budget films in the range of 25 to 30 crores,” he laughs.

Actress Priyanka Chopra says she had a life-altering experience when she visited Tenga Valley in Arunachal Pradesh to record a special programme for a news channel.

After her trip to the valley, she realises people in the film industry are too insulated and their entire time is taken up with shooting and catching flights.

“I saw nature at its fiercest. I had earlier seen the tsunami… on the same date, July 27, two years earlier. Isn’t that bizarre? I realised we in the film industry are too insulated. We’re all taken up with shooting and catching flights. I feel if you want to keep it real for yourself, you can. As much as I love the luxurious life I like the thought of roughing it out once in a while,” Priyanka told IANS.

Recalling her trip for NDTV 24×7, she said: “The funniest thing was, a week before I went to Tenga Valley, there had been a bomb attack on Guwahati. I didn’t want to take the easy route and go to Ladakh and Siachen or the other places where our soldiers are stationed. I wanted to go somewhere no one else had. I wanted to show TV viewers where our soldiers have to be to fight for us.

“People don’t even know Tenga Valley exists. It’s the absolute border on the east. No one wants to go there because there’s a lot of insurgency in that area. We had to drive from Guwahati to Tejpur and then to Tenga Valley.”

Priyanka’a mother accompanied her.

“I really wanted my dad on the show because of his army connection. But he wasn’t well, and I didn’t want him to go through the gruelling journey.”

On her way back she was stuck in a traffic jam due to a landslide.

A week before I went to Tenga Valley, there had been a bomb attack on Guwahati. I didn’t want to take the easy route and go to Ladakh and Siachen. I wanted to show TV viewers where our soldiers have to be to fight for us.”After doing the show with the jawans at Tenga Valley we were warned not to drive back in the night in the pouring rain. So we left at 3.30 a.m. Three hours later we were stuck in a landslide.”

“A massive part of the mountain had fallen on the road. We had to spend nearly 12 hours stuck in the long line of traffic without any signal for the cell phones.”

Once Priyanka got a hang of the situation, she had loads of fun.

“Thankfully, there was an army mess close by. We telephoned for help. The bulldozers came in half an hour. But it took them eight hours to clear the landslide. Thankfully, because of the mess, we had food and we distributed it in cars all around us.”

The other travellers stuck in the landslide must have had a field day having Priyanka in their midst.

“For a while they took pictures of me, and the landslide. Then they got bored of both. The funniest thing was, after the landslide was cleared at 7 p.m. we left… only to be stuck again because the river Brahmaputra flowed on to the road.

“That was scary because the locals were all around us. We had to get out of our cars and get into a bus that was arranged. I’ve a video recording of all the adventure that we had. By the time we got to Tejpur it was almost morning. We were exhausted.”

Priyanka, who is climbing the success ladder fast, is also moving into her new house.

“My interior designer Suzanne Roshan says at the end of October but I don’t think it will happen before November-December. I’m very eager to move in,” said Priyanka who has Drona and Love Story 2050 in her kitty.

Sources claim Karan Johar is considering Priyanka Chopra for a role in his forthcoming movie.

The role replacement game isn’t exactly a revelation in our film industry. But when it’s all about finalizing the cast for Karan Johar’s forthcoming magnum opus, rumour mills inevitably tend to go overboard. Karan’s next, a film that marks the directorial debut of assistant Tarun Mansukhani, was no exception to the rule.

First it was Bollywood’s golden couple, Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan who were considered in the lead roles along with actor Saif Ali Khan. But as soon as Aishwarya agreed to essay the part of detective Sophie in the sequel to the Pink Panther, she bid adieu to Karan’s project.

However reports also suggest that post her marriage, the actress is not comfortable playing sexy on the Indian celluloid. According to an industry insider the role was too sexy and did not quite go with her married image.

Following Aishwarya’s exit, Saif opted out too, leaving John Abraham to fill his void. As for the empty slot left by Aishwarya, rumours were afloat that Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta were Karan’s next options.

But a source close to Karan, says, “Lara was never considered for the role. It was always Priyanka. There were reports of Lara’s declining Karan’s film, but why on earth would she do that? It’s a fantastic role.”

What about Ash being the first choice? “I’m not too sure whether Ash was the first choice or not, but what I can confirm is that Karan has offered the female lead to Priyanka and she has agreed to do the film. She will be starring opposite Abhishek and John, and both actors are playing parts that are antithetical to their otherwise macho personas. But all this is subject to change during the course of scripting and screenplay,” reveals the source.

A source close to Priyanka adds, “Priyanka has said yes to Karan and is very happy to be a part of the project. She has always expressed her desire to work with Karan and this was a perfect opportunity for her. Karan too, is pleased to have zeroed in on her for this project. She plays a confident glamorous young woman in the movie.” A source associated with the film adds that both leading men Abhishek and John will be seen vying for Priyanka’s attention in the film. In fact, she could be romancing both the dudes.

The brand ambassador for Spice Mobile, Priyanka Chopra met 50 excited fans, who won a lucky evening with the actress on Monday. But the fans weren’t the only people who were excited. Priyanka herself was ecstatic at India’s win at the inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Championship.
“I am so excited that India won the World Cup,” Priyanka said. India’s win definitely added gloss to what was for some an already sparkling evening. And the actress couldn’t wipe the smile off her face
It was also the perfect occasion to look back at the stars that got her eyes twinkling. “I was a huge Shah Rukh Khan fan always and when I came to Bombay for my Miss India pageant for the first time. He was my judge. So that was my dream come true,” said the actress.
When asked if it was the big wish or an idea that changed her life, the actress said, “If I hadn’t had the idea of joining Miss India I wouldn’t have been here today.”

Bollywood beauty Priyanka Chopra is set to lead the 27th India Day Parade as Grand Marshal in New York in August to celebrate the country’s 60th Independence Day.

The annual parade, which will be held Aug 19, is organised in Manhattan by the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) and attracts thousands of people every year. It is considered the biggest such event outside India. Announcing details of the parade at the Indian Consulate here on Wednesday, FIA president Shobhana Patel said comedian Johnny Lever would be the chief guest. The theme of the parade would be “Women’s Shakti” (power), Patel said.

Music composer AR Rahman, who is on a concert tour of the US, was present at the function. He was Grand Marshal for the 2006 parade. Known personalities who have participated in the past FIA parades include actresses Madhuri Dixit and Rekha, spiritual guru Morari Bapu, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Set up in 1981, FIA is a large, influential umbrella organisation of the Indian community in the US. It boasts of 300,000 members in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The objective of its annual India Day Parade is to project Indian Americans’ progress and unity to other communities.

hindustantimes.com