A tale of disgust
Priyanka Chopra Jonas recounts experience with Bollywood producer that sickens her to this day
Indian actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas did not shy away from talking about an unsavoury incident in Bollywood when a filmmaker had said that he “needed to see her underwear”.
Chopra Jonas in an interview with The Zoe Report opened up about shooting for a film in which the actress played the role of an undercover. About the incident, she said it was a “dehumanising moment” adding that she had walked out of the film.
“This may have been 2002 or ‘03. I’m undercover, I’m seducing the guy — obviously, that’s what girls do when they’re undercover. But I’m seducing the guy and you have to take off one piece of clothing (at a time),” she recalled.
‘DEHUMANISING’
“I wanted to layer up. The filmmaker was like, ‘No, I need to see her underwear’. Otherwise, why is anybody coming to watch this movie?” The actress added: “He didn’t say it to me. He said it to the stylist in front of me. It was such a dehumanising moment. It was a feeling of, I’m nothing else outside of how I can be used, my art is not important, what I contribute is not important.”
After working for two days, she said that she exited the movie. Her father Ashok Chopra asked her to pay back the production, with her money, for what they had spent.
Talking about the director, Chopra Jonas also said that she “just couldn’t look at him every day”.
Chopra Jonas made her acting debut with the 2002 Tamil film Thamizhan opposite Vijay. She made her foray into Bollywood in 2003 with Andaaz. After that she was seen in Hindi films such as Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Fashion, Don, Barfi, Mary Kom and many more.