JOIN USShe enjoys star status in filmdom, but Priyanka Chopra says she missed having a guiding light in her journey. Now as a producer, the former beauty queen plans to promote fresh talent. She calls herself a “baby producer”, but the 32-year-old wants to launch new talent in the film world with small, but good projects.
Talking about a producer’s role, Priyanka said, “I didn’t know I was going to produce films. I want to make small movies and introduce new talent.” Priyanka, who made a successful transition from a beauty queen to an actress and is among the most formidable names in the Hindi film industry today, says the encouragement to venture into production came from her own experience.
“When I came into the film industry, I had no one to hold my finger and show me the way and say, ‘This is the right direction’. I never had a mentor and I never even had friends who knew anything about films. So for me, it was a very lonely and scary journey, and somewhere I wanted to make a production house which is a place to introduce new talent – writers, directors, musicians and actors through maybe small, but good films,” she said.
It is at this juncture that ‘Madamji’ came knocking at her door. ‘Madamji’, her maiden production venture, will be directed by Madhur Bhandarkar and star the National Award winning actress herself in the lead role. The shooting of the film is likely to begin towards the end of November.
“It so happened that Madhur came up to me with ‘Madamji’. Then I felt that if I do a film with Madhur, with whom I have a great working relationship (thanks to ‘Fashion’), and if I produce it, it will give me a good foothold in film production. I am just a baby producer — nothing compared to the big films (producers) out there. So, it was a spontaneous decision to produce ‘Madamji’,” added Priyanka, who has further strengthened her mark as an actress via ‘Mary Kom’ this year.”
Priyanka says she never plans her moves. “I’m extremely instinctive and spontaneous. So whatever comes my way, I just give it my best. I didn’t know I would become a musician, I didn’t even know I wanted to become an actress. I wanted to be an engineer!
So whenever I propose, god disposes. The only thing I do is work really hard at every opportunity that is given to me, and to whatever instinctively I feel like doing,” said the multi-talented star, who will next be seen in Zoya Akhtar’s Dil Dhadakne Do and Bajirao Mastani.
“I always pick interesting projects! It's a very conscious decision for me because I don’t like to repeat myself. I get bored doing the same thing. As a person, I like variety and I like things to keep moving. As a professional, I love my job. I have spent my entire career learning it. I didn’t go to film school or advisors. So, my career has been my film school. There is so much to learn and so much to do. There is just no end to it in this business. And maintaining variety is the key,” she said.