Priyanka Chopra on ‘biggest obstacle’ she faced as Indian actor in Hollywood, how OTT changed things

Priyanka Chopra opened up about the ‘biggest obstacle’ she faced as an Indian actor in Hollywood.

She said there was this perception that she would ‘cater to just a South Asian audience’ and that people outside of the diaspora ‘may not be interested in her’ if she led a TV show in America.

Priyanka, who has worked in Hollywood films such as Baywatch and The Matrix Resurrections, and will soon be seen on Prime Video’s spy-thriller Citadel, said she has seen a ‘massive change’ in the last decade, since she began focusing on her Hollywood career. The actor said that since streaming came in, the need for globalisation in entertainment became important.

“I think what really changed is streaming. When streaming came in, the need for globalisation became just important. The biggest obstacle that I think I faced as an Indian actor was the limited view of what I was capable of. It has been a massive change and I am very, very proud to have colleagues and peers that have the strength and the bravery to be able to swim through a dense water that has kept us out for a very long time, and actually demand a seat at the table,” Priyanka said in an interview to Bloomberg.

In the same interview, Priyanka said although there is still ‘a long way to go’, she remains optimistic about the future. “When it comes to the arts, we are always going to push the envelope to make sure more inclusion happens,” she said.

Before the 2023 Oscars that were held on March 12 (March 13 in India), Priyanka co-hosted the second annual South Asian Excellence at the Oscars event held on March 9. Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Guneet Monga, Mindy Kaling, Nick Jonas, Preity Zinta, Jacqueline Fernandez, Malala Yousafzai and others had gathered at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles to honour nominees from the likes of RRR, All That Breathes and The Elephant Whisperers.

Days later, it turned out to be an historic night for India at the 95th Academy Awards as RRR song Naatu Naatu and the documentary The Elephant Whisperers both won awards. Naatu Naatu won in the Best Original Song category and The Elephant Whisperers bagged the Best Documentary Short award.