Priyanka Chopra And The Art Of World Domination

Miss World to box office powerhouse, Priyanka Chopra has always made winning her business. Now, with her Hollywood debut, her transcontinental takeover seems complete. Aarti Virani meets the trailblazing actor who is wooing audiences from Mumbai to Montreal

- Aarti Virani

A constellation of Hollywood stars sparkled across Los Angeles’s storied Dolby Theatre, making their way to the 88th Academy Awards this February, but my eyes stayed glued to a beguiling Indian import as she sailed into view. In her sheer ivory Zuhair Murad gown and 50-carat diamonds, a winning combo that’s earned her a coveted spot on various best-dressed lists, actor Priyanka Chopra, slated to present an award that evening, fielded a dizzying range of red-carpet queries. On several occasions, she made sure to mention that she’d work the after-party circuit, then hop on a red-eye to Miami, where her latest Hollywood project, a 2017 Baywatch reboot, beckoned. She remained poised and unflappable, punctuating all her answers with an incandescent smile—surely, a learning from her Miss World days—and a healthy dash of self-deprecation. “I just don’t want to screw up anyone’s name, you know?” she told E! News’s Ryan Seacrest, who appeared visibly disarmed by that admission.