Tragic Details About Priyanka Chopra's Life You Never Knew
Priyanka Chopra is no stranger to success and we've seen her undergo a stunning transformation over the years. In 2000, the international superstar began her journey to international superstardom when she won Miss World. Now, well over two decades later, Chopra is as busy as ever and has garnered even more accolades and recognition. She's won multiple People's Choice Awards and has been nominated for a Critics' Choice Award. She's been instrumental through UNICEF in bettering the lives and educational opportunities of girls in India. She's been vocal about her stance on various wars and humanitarian crises across the world. Through her hard work, Chopra has made a difference in her own life and the lives of many others.
But her road to success and being in a position to help others hasn't been easy. Despite being born to two doctors, Chopra has faced lots of adversity in her life, from traveling across the world for her parents' careers and facing discrimination to struggling in various ways with her health. Chopra has had to fight for her status in life just as much as anyone else. These are the tragic details about Priyanka Chopra's life that you never knew.
Priyanka Chopra was insecure as a teenager
Priyanka Chopra is one of the most beautiful women in the world, and she has the title of Miss World from 2000 to prove it. But what you may not know about Chopra is that seeing her own beauty hasn't always been easy for her. In 2012, the former beauty queen opened up at the Today Mind Rocks Youth Summit about her journey from insecure teenager to beautiful international superstar. "My life was an epitome of imperfection. I'm not perfect like Aishwarya Rai, beautiful, stunning. I was a gawky kid, had low self-esteem, came from a modest middle-class background, had white marks on my legs, but only thing I knew was to work hard and learn. I didn't know how to act or win a beauty pageant," Chopra said, as reported by the International Business Times. Still, Chopra didn't let any insecurities stop her. "But I was damn hard working. Today, my legs sell 12 brands," she said.
Facing insecurity as a teen has given Chopra a unique perspective as an adult — she feels it's her duty to ensure that the next generation of women do not feel insecure, but rather be empowered by their identity. "There are so many girls around the world that are told that they can't live their lives or they can't behave a certain way because they're girls. You know, we have to fight the fight ourselves. We have to show girl-love to each other. We need to encourage other women instead of knocking each other down," Chopra said to Allure.
She faced racism
Priyanka Chopra has lived across the world, and not every place has been so welcoming. At age 13, Chopra moved to the United States, and during her teen years, she faced racism from her peers. "I faced some racial issues. I was bullied for and some students called me browny, they also pointed fingers at me for being Indian," Chopra said at the Today Mind Rocks Youth Summit, as reported by International Business Times. Chopra struggled with the racist bullying for quite some time. "I took it very personally. Deep inside, it starts gnawing at you ... I went into a shell. I was like, 'Don't look at me. I just want to be invisible,'" she said to People.
Chopra's experience with racism didn't end when she became an adult. In 2013, Chopra's song "In My City" was used as the theme for "Thursday Night Football," and football fans did not take kindly to her. "The NFL got so many emails from fans saying: 'Who is this Arab terrorist?' I got so much of it, too," Chopra told The Guardian of her experience. Chopra didn't take the racism sitting down. "I called them out. I said: 'Why is every Arab person a terrorist, and why am I an Arab terrorist just because I am brown?'" she said.
Her nasal surgery went very wrong
In 2000, Priyanka Chopra was on top of the world. She had just been named Miss World, and she was preparing to begin her acting career. But during this exciting time, Chopra also developed a breathing issue. "I was having trouble breathing. This is a problem someone with asthma can't ignore," Chopra wrote in her 2021 book "Unfinished," as reported by People. A doctor discovered a polyp in Chopra's nasal cavity and recommended it be removed. Thinking the surgery would be simple and safe, Chopra agreed to go under the knife.
While risks are always associated with surgery, most are safe and successful. Although research shows that around 30% of all surgical patients experience postoperative complications, most of those complications are considered minor, and most happen in people with co-morbidities. What happened to Chopra was somewhat of an anomaly. As she wrote in her book: "While shaving off the polyp, the doctor also accidentally shaved the bridge of my nose and the bridge collapsed. When it was time to remove the bandages and the condition of my nose was revealed, Mom and I were horrified. My original nose was gone." Chopra's appearance had significantly changed because of the medical error.
Priyanka Chopra struggled with her mental health after her surgery
The aftermath of Priyanka Chopra's nasal surgery mishap was long and arduous. Her altered appearance caused her to become depressed. "I felt devastated and hopeless. Every time I looked in the mirror, a stranger looked back at me, and I didn't think my sense of self or my self-esteem would ever recover from the blow," Chopra wrote in her 2021 memoir "Unfinished" (via Entertainment Tonight). What's more, Chopra lost out on multiple movie roles she had lined up, making her fear she was never going to get the chance to begin her acting career.
Chopra's depression remained so severe that she struggled to leave her house, but with encouragement from her father she embarked on a new journey of undergoing corrective surgery. "I was terrified of that, but he was like, 'I will be in the room with you.' He held my hands through it and helped me build back my confidence," Chopra said of her father on "The Howard Stern Show." Along with her father's support and the help of a filmmaker, Chopra rehabilitated her image and her acting career, and she eventually found confidence again. "My difference is my strength. If I looked like other 'classically beautiful' girls, then I wouldn't stand out, and more important, I wouldn't be me," she said.
She struggled in her career in Bollywood
After fully rehabilitating from her surgery nightmare, Priyanka Chopra's career in Bollywood took off. She was a sought-after actor who many considered to have lots of promise in the industry. Unfortunately, things didn't go the way Chopra had hoped, and she found herself wanting to escape Bollywood. The actor wrote a chapter in her memoir "Unfinished" on her shift out of Bollywood, but she ultimately removed it. But as she said to Dax Shepard "Armchair Expert," his podcast: "I was being pushed into a corner in the industry. I had people not casting me for reasons. I had beef with people ... I was tired of the politics."
Luckily for Chopra, she had a way out — American record executives had discovered her and were interested in helping her become a pop star in the United States. Unfortunately for Chopra, her musical stint didn't go as planned, and she had to forge an acting career in the States. But that wasn't easy for Chopra, either. "People didn't want to take meetings with me because they thought I was a Bollywood actor and I couldn't do mainstream American movies," Chopra told The Zoe Report. Fortunately for Chopra, the drought didn't last forever, and she eventually landed some major acting roles in the United States, with her struggles making her better for it.
Priyanka Chopra's father died of cancer
In 2013, Priyanka Chopra faced one of the most difficult times in her life — her father died of cancer. Chopra and her father were very close, making the pain that much more severe. Chopra has reflected greatly on her grief, and she's realized it's never going to completely go away. "After my dad passed away, I came to a slow but steady conclusion that that kind of pain would never go away. It's your companion. So, if you are thinking of or waiting for the day when it starts hurting less, when it doesn't affect you anymore or when you get over it ... You are never getting over it; it becomes a companion," Chopra said on the "Read The Room" podcast.
Chopra also learned to take advantage of life's little moments and to spend as much time as possible with loved ones. For example, while at the Marshalls Good Stuff Social Club event in 2023, Chopra mentioned that prior to her father's death, she was apt to skip family functions and holidays, like birthdays and Diwali celebrations. But when her father got sick, her perspective shifted. "I think that was a very momentous moment for me where I realized that life is short and we worry about so many trivial things when there are so many big things for us to worry about. I think focusing on that brings you to the ground," Chopra said.
She was taunted because of her relationship
Priyanka Chopra married Nick Jonas in 2018, and the two have been together ever since. But their relationship almost never saw the light of day. "I was 35 and Nick was 25. I really put a stop on it in a way because I judged a book by the cover. I was like, 'I want to settle down. I've done the fun dating thing,'" Chopra said to Dax Shepard on an episode of his podcast "Armchair Expert." "I was ready to get serious and not realizing that my husband is a 70-year-old man stuck in a 30-year-old's body."
Obviously Chopra gave Jonas a chance, and it worked out. But Chopra wasn't the only person who was skeptical of her and Jonas' age difference. When fans found out the two were seriously dating, Chopra received major backlash, and as their relationship continued, so did the trolling comments. Not long after their engagement, Chopra posted a picture to Instagram in honor of Jonas' birthday, with the caption reading, "Happy birthday baby." Fans with issues concerning Chopra and Jonas' age gap ran with one specific word in the caption, calling Jonas a baby and Chopra his mother. The comments clearly weren't too much for the couple to handle, though, as they are still happily married.
Priyanka Chopra lost her good friend
In 2020, news shook Bollywood that Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide. Chopra had worked with Rajput on the film "Gustakhiyan," and the two were good friends. The news of his death shook her. "I'm stunned. You must have been in so much pain. I hope you are at peace wherever you are my friend. Gone too soon. I'll never forget our conversations about astrophysics at sunrise..Words cease to make sense. RIP Sushant. My condolences to the family and everyone grieving this huge loss," Chopra said on Instagram.
The tragic news of Rajput's death came just weeks after another one of Chopra's industry friends, Rishi Kapoor, died of cancer. Chopra took to Instagram to pay tribute to him, too. "Your candid heart and immeasurable talent will never be encountered again. Such a privilege to have known you even a little bit," Chopra said. Chopra and Kapoor had worked together on two Bollywood movies, 2007's "Om Shanti Om" and 2012's "Agneepath."
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Priyanka Chopra was unable to carry her own child
In early 2022, Priyanka Chopra and her husband, Nick Jonas, welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Malti, via surrogacy. The news came as a surprise to the public, and many disapproved of the couple's choice to use a surrogate, much to Chopra's dismay. "You don't know me. You don't know what I've been through. And just because I don't want to make my medical history, or my daughter's, public doesn't give you the right to make up whatever the reasons were," Chopra said to Vogue of the flak she received because of her and her husband's decision.
Chopra has never detailed exactly why she was unable to carry her own child, but she did say to Vogue, "I had medical complications ... this was a necessary step." Despite her medical issue and the noise from certain fans, Chopra and Jonas had a good experience building their family. "Our surrogate was so generous, kind, lovely and funny, and she took care of this precious gift for us for six months," Chopra said, noting her gratitude for the ability to hire a surrogate.
Her daughter spent months in the hospital after birth
Priyanka Chopra's journey to motherhood was not easy. In her early 30s, Chopra froze her eggs so she could continue making progress in her acting career. Then, when she was ready to become a mother, she was unable to carry her own child and had to use a surrogate. Things didn't get any easier when her and Nick Jonas' daughter, Malti Chopra-Jonas, was born. As the actor revealed in an interview with Hoda Kotb for Today, Chopra-Jonas was a preemie, and she had to spend 110 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after her birth. "I realized very, very early that I did not have the luxury to be scared or to be weak, because she was scared and weak. And I had to be her strength as her mom," Chopra said.
Things were still tense for Chopra after bringing Chopra-Jonas home from the hospital. The actor noted that while her daughter was in the NICU, she became comforted by the monitor Chopra-Jonas was hooked up to because it was a clear sign that she was alive. At home, Chopra's daughter didn't have a monitor. "I used to put my ear on her chest. I would wake up every couple of minutes just to see if she was OK. For weeks, this went on," Chopra said.
She was injured on set
Priyanka Chopra is no stranger to an action set. Much of her filmography is comprised of action films and television series like "Agneepath" and "Quantico." The actor knows that an occupational hazard of starring in an action film is suffering an injury, but that doesn't make it any less difficult when an injury actually occurs. While on the set of the first season of "Citadel," the series Chopra starred in alongside Richard Madden and Stanley Tucci, Chopra suffered an injury to her face. "We were losing light, and it was one of those things where I was supposed to be thrown onto the ground, and the camera was supposed to come into a close up on my face. And [the cameraman] went in one inch more than he should have, I went in one inch more, and collided with me," Chopra said to The Wrap.
Chopra was a trooper, though, and insisted that the crew finish their filming schedule before going home for the night. "We just put some surgical glue on there and stuck [my eyebrow] together. And that's why I'll never have hair here again, but I think it kind of looks nice. I think it gives me credit," Chopra said.