Priyanka Chopra On Quitting Bollywood: ‘Don’t Like To Stay In S**t”

‘Just because I am famous and have a body of work in one country does not translate into every country in the world.’

For an audience that has watched Priyanka Chopra evolve from a Miss World winner to a National Award-winning powerhouse, her departure for Hollywood felt like a natural progression. But during a candid chat with the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, the actress revealed that her ‘pivot’ was driven by more than just ambition — it was an escape from professional toxicity.

Addressing the ‘tense relations’ and ‘battles’ she faced in Bollywood, she said, ‘Nothing is an easy ride. We all have battles we deal with. I’m just someone who doesn’t like staying in the s**t because then you get used to the smell.

‘We have the ability to pick ourselves up. Take a minute to grieve, feel emotional and feel the pain. That is absolutely okay. Then pivot.’  Seeking New Opportunities in Hollywood

Despite her success in India, Priyanka admitted that she ‘started feeling limited’ while working back home. She looked toward American pop culture and saw a void where South Asian faces should be.

‘I hadn’t really seen in American pop culture someone besides Mindy Kaling, Aishwarya Rai, and very few female or male Indian actors. I wanted that. Why don’t we have that representation?’ she questioned.

‘I wanted to see what was there in my career in Hollywood. I didn’t know because there was no major precedent before me. I just came and gave it a shot,’ she remarked. Navigating Challenges and Global Recognition Priyanka did not sugarcoat the difficulty of starting over. She acknowledged that there were ‘hurtful times’ during this transition. ‘Just because I am famous and have a body of work in one country does not translate into every country in the world,’ she stated. ‘I don’t walk with the assumption that you know me or my body of work. There are 7 billion people in the world.’     From Tamil Cinema to Producing Powerhouse Her journey to global dominance began on sets far removed from Los Angeles. She recalled her first film, the Tamil-language Thamizhan, where she had to ‘phonetically’ learn the language. It was there she first witnessed true superstardom with her co-actor Vijay.

‘I remember when he arrived on sets there would be hundreds of people standing there just to watch him. It was like a demi-God kind of feeling,’ she said.

Today, Priyanka is no longer just a face on the screen; she is a power player.

‘I have started producing my own movies,’ she noted, emphasizing that there is a ‘certain power’ in putting your head down and doing the work. She remains confident in her ability to compete at the highest level.

‘If you put me on any filmmaker or any set or any co-actor I will stand toe to toe because I have done it for long enough.’