Hungry for What Endures

Priyanka Chopra Jonas comes to Born Hungry as a producer with the energy of someone who instantly recognises a story shaped by movement, reinvention and the search for home

- BY ANUSHKA HALVE

It moved me to bits,” says Priyanka Chopra Jonas, her voice catching slightly. “Every time I see it, it makes me cry.”

The actor-producer and global star is talking about Born Hungry, the 2024 documentary chronicling Indian-born chef Sash Simpson’s extraordinary journey from scanning a railway platform for his next meal in India to an award-winning culinary career in Canada. For Chopra Jonas, whose company, Purple Pebble Pictures, produced the documentary, the film isn’t just another project — it’s deeply personal.

“Just like Sash, I’ve had an extremely nomadic life,” she explains. “My parents were in the military. So, we moved around every two years. I decided that my home is wherever my family is. You can put me anywhere. As long as my family and friends are around, I don’t feel a lack of belonging.”

But perhaps another parallel strikes harder now. As a mother herself, the image of Simpson as a child, alone and vulnerable, has taken on a new weight. “I can’t imagine if my child was out there trying to fend for herself. And just thinking about it really, really hurts my heart,” she says.

A Story of Purpose

For Chopra Jonas, the heart of Born Hungry is Simpson’s resilience.