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Actor Parineeti Chopra spoke about the role that her cousin Priyanka Chopra played in her career, saying that she has made it on her own. In an interview, Parineeti said that there is a difference between nepotism and favouritism, but admitted after a bit of prodding on the interviewer’s part that being related to Priyanka helped. Parineeti said that she was at her wits end after being left without job opportunities in the aftermath of the global recession in 2008. She moved back to India from London after taking her ‘badi mumma’, Priyanka’s mother, into confidence.
Asked if she had an ‘unfair advantage’ by being related to Priyanka, Parineeti said in an interview with Raj Shamani on his podcast, “If being related to Priyanka Chopra could’ve helped my career, then I wouldn’t have had any flops in my career. I’ve seen such lows in the last 10 years.” Prodded further about being helped by nepotism, she took a moment to gather her thoughts, and said, “Every person who has had some association in the industry is actually under a lot of pressure. You might get your first chance, first audition, first meeting, but after that, you’re on your own and it’s more difficult to prove yourself. The comparisons will never end. So, what happens is, you can be a complete outsider, and it’s very difficult to survive. Or, you could be related to somebody and get that first meeting, but after that, your journey is your own.”
She said that ‘nepotism may or may not be real, but favouritism is real’. Explaining further, Parineeti said that there are ‘camps’ in Bollywood from which she feels left out. In several recent interviews, the actor has spoken about losing out on work opportunities because she didn’t make herself visible at industry gatherings, which gave filmmakers and producers the wrong impression about her. But her recent performance in the acclaimed film Amar Singh Chamkila has aided her in communicate her willingness to work, and to attempt diverse roles.
Explaining how she landed a job at Yash Raj Films, which led to her becoming an actor, Parineeti said that because she couldn’t find work as a banker in England, she returned to India with her aunt, Madhu Chopra’s assistance. “I took Priyanka’s mother, my badi mumma, into confidence. I said, ‘Listen, can you please help me find a job? I’ll come to Mumbai. I won’t even go back home to Ambala, I’ll come to Mumbai, just help me’. I packed up everything and came to Mumbai, but even she couldn’t do much, because banks were not hiring. One day, I just went to YRF to see my sister shoot for Pyaar Impossible. I’d just gone to set to see her, and something clicked. This was a studio that was operating as if it wasn’t affected by the recession, I could maybe get a job. Literally from lunch, I went up and met the marketing head, and I said, ‘Please give me a job’.” Parineeti was told that she’s ‘overqualified’, but ended up getting a job as a marketing intern.
Parineeti appeared to suggest that her bagging a marketing job at Yash Raj Films was serendipitous. “If my sister wasn’t shooting at YRF that day, and that day if I hadn’t gotten the opportunity to meet the marketing head, I wouldn’t have gotten that job,” she said, adding, “My sister had to be an actor for me to visit a film set in the first place. “It was after working in the YRF marketing department for over a year that Parineeti was offered a three-film acting deal by the studio, calling into question her claims about access, favouritism and nepotism all at once.
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