Actress Priyanka Chopra was initially intimidated by Tamil star Vijay while starring alongside him in her debut film Thamizhan, her mother Madhu Chopra said in a recent interview, revealing that the actor was her “first mentor”.
“Vijay is a very good person. Initially, Priyanka was intimidated by him. Even I was intimidated by him. I was nervous about how a young girl like her would act alongside such a big star. But he was very kind to her. Vijay was her first mentor. He never let her lose her confidence,” Madhu said in an interview with Pinkvilla.
Recalling the time Priyanka was shooting for her debut film, Madhu added, “He (Vijay) was an excellent dancer. Prabhu Deva’s brother Raju Sundaram was in charge of the film’s dance choreography. The steps were really difficult. It wasn’t all fun and games. But she (Priyanka) took it very seriously and was well looked after,” she shared.
Priyanka moved to Mumbai from Bareilly to chase her dreams of becoming an actress. In the interview, Madhu also spoke about moving in with Priyanka to provide support to her after she won Miss World in 2000. The mother-daughter duo first moved in with their extended family in Mumbai’s Kandivali area.
“At first, I found travelling from one place to another difficult. Back home, we drove our own car. But here in Mumbai, we had to take the local train. It was terrifying at first. We used to leave Kandivali at 5.30am and reach coach Mickey Mehta’s at 6.30am. We did a lot of footwork here in Bombay,” she said.
Madhu acknowledged that Mumbai wasn’t as “scary” as other cities in India as they could take a taxi home even late at night. “We moved into a paying guest facility in Santacruz. That was also good. There, she (Priyanka) met Tamanna (Dutt), who became our roommate. Priyanka and Tamanna have been friends since then. We never had to fear anything, nor did we face any major losses. Even if challenges came her way, she knew how to handle them,” she explained.
Speaking about Priyanka moving to the US to pursue a career in Hollywood, Madhu said that she came back as a completely different person. “Priyanka looked more beautiful and confident when she visited home after shifting to Hollywood. Her mindset also changed.”
On the work front, Priyanka is set to return as spy agent Nadia Sinh in Amazon MGM Studios and AGBO’s Citadel Season 2. The 42-year-old actress has wrapped up shooting for her upcoming action film, The Bluff, helmed by Frank Ewen Flowers. Additionally, Priyanka has Ilya Naishuller’s Heads of State in the pipeline. She is also expected to be a part of Farhan Akhtar's Jee Le Zaraa along with Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt.