Priyanka Chopra recalls how a Bollywood filmmaker ‘needed to see her underwear’, calls it ‘dehumanising’

Actor Priyanka Chopra has opened up about an incident in Bollywood when a filmmaker had said that he ‘needed to see her underwear’. In a new interview, Priyanka recalled that she was shooting for a film in which the actor played the role of an undercover. Speaking about the comment, Priyanka called it a ‘dehumanizing moment’ adding that she had walked out of the film. (Also Read | Priyanka Chopra stuns in risqué outfits from new magazine photoshoot in California)

Priyanka made her acting debut with the Tamil film Thamizhan (2002) and her first Bollywood film was The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003). She also starred in Andaaz (2003), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and Aitraaz (2004), Don (2006), Fashion (2008), Barfi (2012), Mary Kom (2014), Bajirao Mastani (2015), The Sky Is Pink (2019) and The White Tiger (2021) among others. She has also appeared in Hollywood films such as Baywatch (2017), Isn’t It Romantic (2019), and The Matrix Resurrections (2021).

In an interview with The Zoe Report, Priyanka said, “This may have been 2002 or ’03. I’m undercover, I’m seducing the guy — obviously, that’s what girls do when they’re undercover. But I’m seducing the guy and you have to take off one piece of clothing [at a time]. I wanted to layer up. The filmmaker was like, ‘No, I need to see her underwear’. Otherwise, why is anybody coming to watch this movie?”

She added, “He didn’t say it to me. He said it to the stylist in front of me. It was such a dehumanising moment. It was a feeling of, I’m nothing else outside of how I can be used, my art is not important, what I contribute is not important.” After working for two days, she said that she exited the movie. Her father Ashok Chopra asked her to pay back the production, with her money, for what they had spent. Speaking about the director, Priyanka also said that she ‘just couldn’t look at him every day’.

Currently, Priyanka stars in Citadel, created by The Russo Brothers. The action-packed show revolves around two elite agents Mason Kane (Richard Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Priyanka) of the global spy agency Citadel. Her last film was James C Strouse’s Love Again with Sam Heughan. She will now be seen with Alia Bhatt and Katrina Kaif in Farhan Akhtar’s Jee Le Zaraa. The actor also has Heads of State with John Cena and Idris Elba in the pipeline.