As an actor and producer, my hats are different: Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Priyanka Chopra Jonas says, as a producer, she backs stories that move her personally, highlighting the documentary 'Born Hungry' on chef Sash Simpson, and aims to support bold, unique filmmakers

New Delhi: As an actor, Priyanka Chopra Jonas is constantly trying to challenge herself but as a producer, she says she wants to back stories that move her personally, something that propelled her to back the documentary “Born Hungry” on celebrity chef Sash Simpson.

The documentary, currently streaming on JioHotstar in India, traces the life of Simpson — from being abandoned as a young boy in India to his adoption in Canada and his eventual success as a renowned chef.

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It is produced by Priyanka’s banner Purple Pebble Pictures along with Barry Avrich’s Melbar Entertainment Group.

The actor, known for her extensive filmography in India and in the US, said she was moved by Sash Simpson’s story.

“As an actor and as a producer, my hats are kind of different. And my brain splits into two. I think as an actor, I’m constantly trying to challenge myself. I want to be able to see if I can navigate different genres and if I can do action, comedy, drama… I love challenging myself and that is why my acting career has had variety.

“As a producer, I’m empathetic and our ethos is a lot around wanting to give opportunities to newer filmmakers or filmmakers that want to achieve something that they haven’t been able to or are kind of hitting a wall somewhere. My production side kind of comes from what personally moves me,” Priyanka said in an interview from Los Angeles.

The story of “Born Hungry”, the actor said, came to her in 2023 via Barry who wanted her company to amplify Sash Simpson’s story.

“I just remember watching it myself and us, as a company, and just being so moved by not just his story, but the narrative that the director had created. We really wanted to get behind it to maximise the reach of this film. So, hopefully, with JioHotstar’s reach maybe Sash will get some answers about his birth family or where he comes from, which is what he’s really seeking,” she said.

Priyanka said when she set up her production house, she started with strong stories like “Ventilator” and “Paani” in regional cinema.

The idea to back stories that resonated with her also came from her own experience of navigating the film industry as an outsider after she won the Miss World title in 2000 and made her Hindi cinema debut with 2003 film “The Hero: Love Story of a Spy”.

“I didn’t know why I was gravitating towards filmmakers and stories that were maybe marginalised or told that they’re not what is expected… As I’m talking about it, I think it does come from the fact that when I joined the industry, I didn’t have it.

“I was trying to navigate this crazy movie industry by myself with my parents who were doctors and who also had no idea about the business. And I kind of felt really lost,” said the actor, whose parents, Ashok and Madhu Chopra, were both physicians in the Indian Army.

Priyanka said she hopes her company becomes a home for people who have a point of view and are bold.

The actor was recently in India for the launch of her film with SS Rajamouli and Mahesh Babu. The movie, titled “Varanasi”, had a grand launch in Hyderabad last month.

When it comes to her career in Hollywood, where she has starred in blockbusters such as “Baywatch”, “The Matrix Resurrections” and most recently “Heads of State”, Priyanka said she still has a lot more to do.

“If you look at my Hindi filmography or Indian film filmography, there’s a lot more variety than I have been able to achieve in my international work. I’m hoping to be able to create diversity and to be able to do really interesting work in my English language work as well, like I did in my Bollywood films. So there’s a lot more growth that I’m hoping for to achieve there. I’m still quite early in my growth in Hollywood.

“But I’m in a really interesting place where I have amazing opportunity to work with different kinds of filmmakers from all around the world. And I’m grabbing that with both hands,” she said.