Priyanka Chopra at the Penguin Lecture hall opened a can of worms on Twitter

Priyanka Chopra said that she had been removed from movies and replaced with the girlfriends of directors and actors because she wouldn't bend to their whims and fancies, and that she has been feisty and fearless. Yet, Twitterati debated if she was the ideal choice to speak on the topic.

Priyanka Chopra, Priyanka chopra penguin lecture, priyanka chopra penguin lecture controversy, priyanka chopra penguin lecture padmavati controversy, priyanka chopra penguin lecture controversy what is it about, indian express, indian express news

Priyanka Chopra spoke about her feisty and fearless persona, while also addressing nepotism, sexism and the controversy around Sanjay Leela Bahnsali’s film Padmavati. (Source: Express photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

Priyanka Chopra was in the Capital on December 26 to deliver the prestigious Penguin Annual Lecture. One of the most prominent Indian faces in the Hollywood industry currently, Chopra talked about “Breaking the glass ceiling – chasing a dream.” As a part of her conversation with Sonia Singh, a journalist with a leading broadcast news channel, Chopra spoke about her feisty and fearless persona, while also addressing nepotism, sexism and the controversy around Sanjay Leela Bahnsali’s film Padmavati.

But a quick look through Twitter would show how many weren’t exactly pleased that Chopra was selected to give the lecture, when the publishing house could have chosen a women writer instead. Observations about women’s entitlement to public spaces, breaking the glass ceiling and if the Quantico actor was less deserving to speak at the event kept many Twitter users busy.

Chopra stated that she has been thrown out of movies and replaced with the girlfriends of directors and actors because she wouldn’t bend to the whims and fancies and that she has been feisty and fearless. So, when Singh asked her stand on the Padmavati controversy and she ‘ducked’ the question with ‘whataboutery’ asking why is she not asking politicians about this instead, hell broke loose on Twitter.

Story continues below this ad

Here are some of the responses her appearance at the event generated on Twitter.

So @priyankachopra is a strong opinionated person when she is in USA and topic is of immigration. But if asked about any Indian issue, like Karni Sena threatening @deepikapadukone, she rudely snaps “Why do u media guys want to put us actors in corner.”

Strange.

— Sanjukta Basu (@sanjukta) December 26, 2017

“If breaking the glass ceiling was the theme of their annual lecture, couldn’t Penguin RH find one woman—among the various hardworking writers, editors, publishers, journalists, booksellers…—from the publishing & literary field who fit the bill?” https://t.co/3F8UtycCmk

— Zubaan Books (@ZubaanBooks) December 26, 2017

“In the last ten years, Penguin’s speakers have included the Dalai Lama, Amartya Sen, Ramachandra Guha, Dan Brown…
And the first time they bring in a woman, it’s Priyanka Chopa?”https://t.co/irAmUCImnQ

— Raghu Karnad (@rkarnad) December 26, 2017

The real glass ceiling: the idea that women are only of public interest if they’re beauty-queens or actors.

— Raghu Karnad (@rkarnad) December 26, 2017

While I completely agree with you on that, an actor being invited by a literary house as a speaker doesn’t sit well with me.

— shunali khullar shroff (@shunalishroff) December 26, 2017

Since Priyanka Chopra at the Penguin Annual lecture has caused so much chest thumping, here are my observations. 1. It’s not like she hasn’t accomplished anything. She has. A lot. Broken the glass ceiling for women actors from Bollywood to Hollywood +

— Aparna Jain (@Aparna) December 26, 2017

+2. Market forces are supporting commercialism. Why do you think memoirs and books by stars sell more than books by accomplished authors. Is it ideal? No. Bliss it a reality yes +

— Aparna Jain (@Aparna) December 26, 2017

Wen i read @PenguinIndia ‘s announcement regarding diva’s lecture & also in the same sentence glass ceiling breaker , ws bit confused.
Priyanka , publishing & penguin , how on the earth & ofcourse the big WHY???
Dey jst rhyme, nothing else.#PenguinAnnualLecture https://t.co/QnK59Ac6NZ

— Joe.. (@Jyoti150194) December 27, 2017

Penguin choosing Priyanka Chopra is like Sivakumar being asked to inaugurate music festivals. ‘Sindhu Bhairavi’ was a movie and Sivakumar moved his mouth while Yesudas sung. ??

— Deepika Ramesh (@newfracturedl8) December 27, 2017

Countering people’s responses to how Chopra evaded the question on Padmavati, this Twitter user, who was attending the session posted, “This report doesn’t tell the full truth. @priyankachopra did say that she called SLB and Deepika offering her support to them. It was only after @soniandtv persisted with the same question that PC got annoyed and said why don’t you ask politicians, etc,” referring to a news report.

This report doesn’t tell the full truth. @priyankachopra did say that she called SLB and Deepika offering her support to them. It was only after @soniandtv persisted with the same question that PC got annoyed and said why don’t you ask politicians, etc. https://t.co/jdj2ToYaor

— Aseem Chhabra (@chhabs) December 27, 2017