Priyanka Chopra 'was in tears' when she got her debut film with Vijay; mom Madhu had to convince her to accept offer

Priyanka Chopra, who made her acting debut in the 2002 Tamil film Thamizhan opposite Vijay, was hesitant to say yes to the movie at first. In a recent interview with Filmygyan, Priyanka's mother Madhu Chopra recalled how she encouraged her 'obedient child' to say yes to the role. Also read: When Priyanka Chopra spoke about feeling 'utterly insignificant'

'Priyanka has always been an obedient child'

Opening up about how Priyanka did not want to work in films, Madhu said, "Priyanka didn’t want to star in films. She got the offer for the south Indian film through somebody. When I told Priyanka about the offer, she was in tears, she said, ‘I am not doing films.’ But she has always been an obedient child. When I told her to accept the offer, she agreed and signed the contract (for Thamizhan)."

'Priyanka couldn’t initially match steps with Vijay'

Madhu added, "When she was shooting for the film, she began to like it. Despite not knowing the language, she enjoyed it. The team helped her and treated her with a lot of respect. Vijay starred in the film; he is a perfect gentleman. Raju Sundaram was the choreographer. In dance, Priyanka was okay, but she couldn’t initially match steps with Vijay. She would practice with the choreographer from morning to evening. Then she started enjoying it. This also helped her build her character and realise that she wanted to pursue this as a career."

Upcoming work

After Priyanka was crowned Miss World 2000, she joined films and made her acting debut in Thamizhan (2002), followed by her first Bollywood film, The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003), co-starring Sunny Deol. 

Priyanka's upcoming projects include The Bluff, directed by Frank E Flowers. She recently wrapped up shooting for Heads Of State, an upcoming action-comedy featuring Idris Elba, John Cena, and Jack Quaid in key roles.