I’m not the best schmoozer: Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Priyanka Chopra recently opened up about her struggles in Bollywood and how she felt cornered leading up to her move to the US. In the same chat with Dax Shepherd, the actor also spoke about how she and her mother were really concerned when she had a string of flops in 2008. The ‘Citadel’ star said that she was fully aware that since she was not a ‘nepo baby’, no one was going to support her career despite the flops.

In 2008, she had a magazine cover that said ‘finished’ on her face.

“I was panicked; my mum was panicked. She comes to me and says, ‘You are going to be 30 soon. That’s old in this industry. They want to work with 20-year-olds, so you need to think about a revenue stream if you are going to sustain yourself’,” she shared. Priyanka said that it was because of this conversation that she got into production.

Priyanka had six flops at the time and recalled how she felt during this phase: “I was terrified when those six movies did not do well because I’m not a nepo baby. I didn’t have that kind of support that exists in a big way in Bollywood movies. They are multi-generational actors that come in and get multiple opportunities versus the ones that come in from outside. You don’t have your uncle make a new movie for you just because your last one tanked.”

PeeCee said that since she is not the ‘best schmoozer’, she was constantly worried about how she will land her next big role.

“You have to get it and you have to hustle for it. I’m not the best schmoozer. I was like, ‘I’m never going to be cast in a big movie ever again’ and that was one of the big reasons why I took on a movie on my shoulders, out of necessity, which turned out to be career-defining for me,” she recalled.

It was during this time that Priyanka starred in Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Fashion’, which got her a National Film Award for ‘best actress’.