ALMOST 25 YEARS INTO HER CAREER AND WORKING ON HER NEXT ROLE AS A PIRATE, PRIYANKA CHOPRA JONAS STILL BELIEVES IN THE POWER OF ROUTINES—WHETHER IT'S HER CAREER.FAMILY OR SKINCARE.

When asked about Priyanka Chopra Jonas’s biggest career-defining moments, film addicts might pick her playing Jhilmil in Barfi (2012) or perhaps portraying the boxing legend Mary Kom in the 2014 biopic or even the regal Kashibai in Bajirao Mastani (2015).

- SHRIYA ZAMINDAR

The fashion set might anoint her Met Gala debut in a custom Ralph Lauren trench dress or the 75-footlong veil that took over her wedding to Nick Jonas. Being a public persona for nearly a quarter of a century will no doubt afford anyone a long list of milestones to choose from, but Chopra Jonas isn’t one to sit on past laurels.

In the sticky summer heat at Mumbai’s Mukesh Mills, posing against three-storey-high sets draped in billowing fabric, our cover star is all business, taking powerful strides in vertiginous heels to get from one location to another. Some of us on set today are desk-bound creatures, more used to looking at sunlight through tinted windows whilst sitting under the icy draft of the air conditioner. As such, we’re wilting like battery-less Tamagotchis. But Chopra Jonas’s sweat glands are seemingly on hold. A master of DIY beauty tips (read on to learn more), perhaps she has now discovered new tricks to manoeuvre her pores into obeisance. “I don’t like to come on set unprepared or keep anyone waiting because I’m aware that there are about 300 people on a crew who are waiting for me to do my job properly for us to move on to the next thing,” she declares. “It’s a lot of pressure, but now almost 25 years into my career, it’s something I’m very proud of having learnt early on,” she adds.

Wearing a Falguni Shane Peacock sari shirt and shorts combo paired with Bvlgari’s delicate jewellery, The Bluff actor gives us a peek into her upcoming role as a pirate-turned-domestic goddess. She grabs the red velvet drapes that cascade off a terrace like the sails of a ship, contorting her body into dramatic poses as she’s cheered on by photographer Zhong Lin.