Happy Birthday Priyanka Chopra: 5 times her performances were brilliant

By Subhash K. Jha -

July 18, 2021 - 1:10 PM IST

In a career of 18 years in Bollywood, Priyanka Chopra got only some rare opportunities to show her mettle. Here is our pick.

Happy Birthday Priyanka Chopra: 5 times her performances were brilliant

1. FASHION (2008)
Priyanka catches you completely unawares. Her transformation from the bubbly Chandigarh girl to the super-ambitious supermodel, who dumps her boyfriend and conscience to pursue her dreams, is achieved with a gentle subtlety and bridled passion. This is Priyanka's coming-of-age film. She looks like a zillion bucks. And acts like a woman who connects with the darkest, most desperate human emotions without wallowing in them. After 27 films, Priyanka finally got a role she could sink her teeth into. Playing the small town aspirant model Meghna Mathur, she transformed emotionally and physically right in front of our eyes. The performance is powerful and eclectic filled with jolts and and edgy emphasis. Priyanka sails through the character’s messy ambitions. The National Award was richly deserved.

2. WHAT’S YOUR RAASHEE (2009)
In this failed rom-com about an NRI’s search for a suitable bride, Priyanka plays 12 wannabe brides once each from every zodiac sign. There is a moment where one of the hopeful brides watches the NRI go from the balcony. As she waves, that tiny gesture expresses her end of hope; she knows the bride-seeker Yogesh won’t come back. When the first of Yogesh's wannabe brides, arguably the best of Priyanka's 12 spectacular turns, walks in, her shoes seem to have been bought only hours ago. Priyanka Chopra plays all the 12 brides. What we don't know is how beautifully she balances every character’s inner life in the swarming but serene paradigm of the plot creating for each of the 12 intended brides an inner life and an outer glow within a restricted time-span. It's an amazing achievement. Priyanka gives soul to all the 12 characters she plays. In the climactic song, she brings all of them together, quirks and mannerisms all on display in one unified flow of feelings and body-language. The actress achieves individuality for all her characters while giving the plot a homogenous flow.

3. BARFI (2012)
Priyanka Chopra as the autistic Jhilmil is memorable. In her prior films, she was found to be guilty of over-acting in Agneepath and Anjaana Anjaani (with Ranbir again). In Barfi, all her recent sins of excess are washed away. Priyanka’s inherent glamorous personality simply disappears into her character. We don’t see the actress on screen at all! We see only Jhilmil who reminds us in a very pleasant way of Sridevi in Sadma. This is one of the most flawless interpretations of a physical—psychological disability seen on celluloid.

4. MARY KOM (2014)
It's that life-defining moment when a character on screen transforms totally into a real-life personality. We've seen Seema Biswas, Ben Kingsley and Farhan Akhtar metamorphose into real-life characters in front of our bewildered eyes. Now, it is Priyanka Chopra. She virtually transforms her physicality before entering the spirit and the soul of boxing champ Mary Kom. What a grand entry! Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Priyanka as the gritting volatile boxer from Manipur who won't take no for an answer, even from God. Penetrating a male domain like boxing in a gender-defying swoop, Priyanka's Mary Kom takes us on a voyage of self-discovery where a plucky poor girl from rural Manipur goes right to the Olympics. It's an incredible story filled with sound and fury signifying something deep and seductive, just waiting to be told.

5. BAJIRAO MASTANI (2015)
Priyanka's Kashibai loves her husband to death. Each time Priyanka looks at Ranveer Singh her face lights up like a brightly-lit skyline. When Bajirao falls in love with another woman, Kashibai doesn't surrender to destiny. She is no walkover. She protests. She sneers. She is angry. But finally for the sake of her husband's happiness and the larger good, she accepts the situation. Kashibai teaches us the most important lesson of this film. Acceptance of injustice is sometimes the opposite of cowardice. Priyanka conveys all these emotions with near-flawless comprehension of her character's inner world. This is her best to date.

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