Priyanka Chopra’s Uncle Opposed Her Miss India Entry: ‘Girls From Our Family Don’t Do This’ – News18

Last Updated:December 02, 2024, 17:14 IST

Dr. Madhu Chopra revealed the challenges Priyanka Chopra faced before becoming Miss India in 2000. From convincing her patriarchal family to giving up her medical practice, Madhu supported Priyanka’s rise to global stardom.

Priyanka Chopra’s mother, Dr. Madhu Chopra, has always been open about the struggles and sacrifices their family faced to support Priyanka’s rise to fame. Priyanka, who won the Miss India title in 2000 and went on to be crowned Miss World, overcame numerous challenges to achieve her dreams. In a recent interview on the Something Bigger Show, Madhu revealed that she had to quit her medical practice to support Priyanka’s career due to resistance from her husband’s patriarchal family.

Recalling the tough time convincing her late husband, Ashok Chopra, to let Priyanka go to Mumbai for Miss India, Madhu said, “Priyanka was studying in 12th standard and was about to give her board exams, so telling her dad and convincing him to say yes during her gap year was another task. Both the kids came and kept asking him. He said, ‘Boards are not easy, let her study, don’t bring in all these distractions.’ After that, children were disappointed so they went downstairs to their bedroom.”

She continued, “Then I asked him, ‘How many people in this country get this opportunity?’ She is in the gap year and this is an opportunity that has come out of nowhere. It’s just a matter of a week max. So, he said okay. And then she won, one after the other, then she also got selected for Miss India.”

Convincing her husband’s elder brother, the family patriarch, proved to be an even bigger challenge. “He was like the patriarch of the family. We went to his place and told him everything, then I told him that she has to go to Bombay for the training. He was absolutely against it. He said, ‘You people are putting ideas into your child’s head. Girls from our family don’t do this.’ We heard a lot, Priyanka cried a lot. She thought bade papa would melt but he said no. Then, I spoke to his wife and said, ‘Again the same thing. It’s an opportunity, it’s not like she is going away from home. If she makes it, fine, if she doesn’t, she goes back to school. There is no pressure on her.’”

Madhu added, “Next morning, he sat me down and said that she can go but you have to forget your medical practice and you will be there with her every minute. You will go to Bombay with her. I said okay and promised. My husband also said that I will work for the two of us, I will take care of the practice.”

Eventually, Madhu became Priyanka’s travel companion. “I was with her for 5-6 years after winning. I used to travel with her everywhere, every shoot, even in Bombay or anywhere in India. Then I stopped going to India shoots; I would only travel abroad with her,” she said.

Today, Priyanka Chopra is a global star. Following her recent stint in the American spy action series Citadel, she is currently working on two major projects: the action-comedy Heads of State, alongside Idris Elba and John Cena, and the action-drama The Bluff.