Priyanka Chopra, the former Miss World 2000, will play a bodyguard armed to the hilt and wield the sword to combat enemies in her next film Drona.
After having trained in martial arts for her role in the 2006 remake of Don, Priyanka has been learning to wield a kirpan, with as much élan as a real Sikh swordsman.
Chopra stars with Abhishek Bachchan who plays superhero against Kay Kay Menon cast in a villainous role. Bachchan’s good friend Goldie Behl will direct the venture.
“It’s an unconventional role that your average Hindi film heroine doesn’t get to do,” she said recently to ‘Screen’, a film magazine.
“I had to learn a Sikh martial art called ‘gatka’, which needs precision skills. It involves a lot of complex movements using the kirpan.
“As part of my training program, I had to fight an entire group of people using a sword,” she added. Chopra insists on doing most of her stunts herself.
Priyanka played the female lead against superhero ‘Krrish’ played by Hrithik Roshan in a hit film by the same name. In Don she was paired opposite Shah Rukh Khan in the role of a swift and fearless underworld gang member.
But grit and swiftness is not all there is to the svelte beauty who was recently picked up to be the brand ambassador of Lux, a well known Indian bathing soap touted as the beauty soap of the stars. Only the most glamorous of Bollywood’s leading ladies get to endorse the product.
From big banner films to big brand endorsements, Priyanka seems to be moving swiftly ahead.
Kirti Pandey
sawf.org
