Madhu Chopra reveals Priyanka Chopra was mistreated by her hometown for participating in Miss World pageant, criticised for promoting ‘nari shoshan’

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Expressing her disappointment over the reaction from Bareilly, Madhu said, “Some people impose their misguided beliefs. But she never had to compromise; there was no nari shoshan anywhere. She did it on her own terms; she had the opportunity and she aced it. Instead of providing women opportunities, why criminalise something that is so beautiful?” she wondered.

She acknowledged, however, that beauty pageants can be a double-edged sword. Madhu, however, added, “But then there’s a flip side to it too… girls go crazy and they want to do things. It’s aspirational and when they’re disappointed with not making it, they make wrong, bad choices. I feel girls who are strong in their beliefs and confident only should attempt such stuff (pageants). You have to be very strong in your resolve; but it’s never do or die… nothing is do or die in a person’s life. There’s always more opportunities,” she added.

Winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant Priyanka Chopra with actor Hema Malini, Dr Vijay Sharma and Gayatri Devi. (Express archive photo)

Madhu further highlighted the contrast between Bareilly and Mumbai at the time. In Mumbai, Priyanka was greeted with enthusiasm, as people flocked to sign her for films. Initially, however, Priyanka was reluctant, prioritising her studies over a film career. “She’s a brilliant, intelligent girl and her objective was something else; this just happened,” she mentioned, adding that Priyanka wanted to be a criminal psychologist and aeronautical engineer in her life. “But destiny had other plans.”

Priyanka Chopra, who was last seen in the American spy action streaming series Citadel, is currently working on two films simultaneously — the action comedy Heads of State, wherein she shares the screen with Idris Elba and John Cena among others, and the swashbuckler action drama The Bluff.