‘MARRIAGE HAS GIVEN ME WINGS’
Priyanka Chopra Jonas says that she is happy to be married to someone who has the ‘ability to calm’ her
If there’s one Bollywood celebrity who has truly showed the world what talent Indian actors possess, it has to be Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Be it Hindi films, Hollywood projects or her singing career, she has managed to strike that perfect balance. But this has obviously made her life hectic.
Ask Priyanka how tough managing everything along with her personal life gets, and she exclaims, “It’s tough, but I’m glad I’m married to someone who understands my ambition and drive,” referring to her husband, singer Nick Jonas. The couple got married on December 1 last year. Priyanka continues, “He says this is why he fell in love with me. For both of us, our professional lives are very,very important. We both come from a non-entitled background; our careers were not given to us. We both have worked hard to be where we are, and have had a two-decade long career each. We know what it takes to do what we do, and support each other.”
For a couple, spending time with each other is integral to the relationship, more so when the people belong to two different parts of the world. How are Nick and Priyanka managing so far? “We have a rule,” Priyanka spills the beans, “Nick and I don’t go beyond two-three weeks without seeing each other. Wherever in the world we are, we keep in touch, and video call all the time! It’s important to make the effort to have the other person involved in your life. We do that.”
The actor asserts that “having a work life-personal life balance is very important” for both men and women. “You see more and more working couples today. We put too much pressure on ourselves and our relationships. (People tend to think) ‘It won’t work out if I take on too much work’ — and that’s unfair. It will work out if you want to make it work.”
The 37-year old has her hands full currently. Priyanka will be seen next with Rajkummar Rao in the adaptation of the novel The White Tiger, and We Can Be Heroes. She was also seen recently in the criticallyacclaimed The Sky is Pink with Farhan Akhtar, a Bollywood film she did after a gap of three years. People called it her ‘comeback’. Ask Priyanka whether it bothers her that her Hindi projects are called a ‘comeback’ just because she was busy with other projects, and she says, “I don’t care what people say. ‘Comeback’ ‘Go back’ ‘Here’ ‘There ’, people’s opinions don’t matter. I don’t even think about that. To some people it might be a ‘comeback’, to some it might not!” Clearly, nothing bothers Priyanka. So, then how’s married life treating her? Her face lights up as she says, “Damn, it’s the best thing that has ever happened to me! We complete a year this December. I wish I knew it was so amazing, I would have done it before (laughs). It’s great to be married to someone who’s my rock, and has the ability to calm me. It’s given me wings in such a beautiful way!”
Rishabh Suri