Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra (pronounced [prɪˈjaːŋkaː ˈtʃoːpɽaː]; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian film actress and singer, and the winner of the Miss World pageant of 2000. Through her successful film career, Chopra has become one of Bollywood's highest-paid actresses and one of the most popular celebrities in India. She has received numerous awards and nominations, including a National Film Award for Best Actress and Filmfare Awards in four categories.

Chopra was born in Jamshedpur to parents who were both physicians in the Indian Army, causing the family to move frequently during her childhood, but she considers Bareilly her real home. As a teenager she lived for some years with an aunt in the United States. In 2000, her mother entered her into the Femina Miss India contest, in which she finished second and took the Miss India World title. She was then entered into the Miss World pageant, where she was crowned Miss World 2000 and Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty-Asia & Oceania, becoming the fifth Indian to win the competition.

Although Chopra at one time aspired to study engineering or psychiatry, she accepted offers to join the Indian film industry, which came as a result of her pageant wins, making her acting debut in the Tamil film Thamizhan in 2002. The following year, she starred in The Hero, her first Hindi film release, and followed it with the box-office hit Andaaz, which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut and a nomination for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. She subsequently earned wide critical recognition for the role of a seductress in the 2004 thriller Aitraaz, winning her the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role. By 2006, Chopra had established herself as a leading actress of Hindi cinema with starring roles in the highly successful films Krrish and Don. After receiving mixed reviews for a series of unsuccessful films, she received critical acclaim for her versatility in portraying a range of unconventional characters, including a troubled model in the 2008 drama Fashion, a feisty Marathi woman in the 2009 caper thriller Kaminey, a serial killer in the 2011 neo-noir 7 Khoon Maaf, an autistic woman in the 2012 romantic comedy Barfi!, and a boxer in the 2014 biographical sports drama Mary Kom. She starred in the action thriller Don 2 (2011), and featured briefly in the revenge drama Agneepath (2012) and the superhero film Krrish 3 (2013), all of which rank among the highest grossing Indian films of all time.

In addition to acting in films, she participates in stage shows, has hosted a reality show on television, and has written columns for India's national newspapers. Chopra has engaged in philanthropic activities, and was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights on 10 August 2010. She released her first single "In My City" in 2012. Her second single "Exotic" debuted in 2013, and charted in countries such as the United States and Canada.

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