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Priyanka Chopra has for the first time revealed the real reason she started looking for work in the United States, away from Bollywood.
The actress was already among the biggest Bollywood stars when she decided to give her music career a shot in America in 2013.
And now she has revealed that she was unhappy with the work she was getting in Bollywood.
Speaking to Dax Shepherd on his podcast Armchair Expert, Priyanka said Anjula Acharia of Desi Hits spotted her in a music video and called her up when she was shooting for Saat Khoon Maaf.
Anjula asked if Priyanka would be interested in a music career in the US and the offer could not have been better timed.
The actress happened to be looking for a way out of Bollywood.
"I was being pushed into a corner in Bollywood. I had people not casting me, I had beef with people. I am not good at playing that game so I kind of was tired of the politics and I said I needed a break," she said.
"This music thing gave me an opportunity to go into another part of the world, not crave for the movies I did not want to get but I would require to schmooze certain clubs and cliques of people.
"It would require grovelling and I had worked a long time by then, I didn't feel like I wanted to do it.
"So when this music thing came, I was like, 'I'am going to America.'"
She mentioned all the singing stars she has worked with, such as Pitbull, Will.I.Am, Pharell Williams and JayZ.
But when her music career did not pan out, Priyanka quickly realised she was "much better at my day job".
Someone suggested that she try out acting roles in the US. Which she did and eventually landed herself the lead role in ABC's Quantico.
Since then, Priyanka has been seen in Baywatch, Matrix: Revolutions, The White Tiger and will soon headline her second show, Citadel.
She also has a film up for release in May, Love Again.
Priyanka said on the podcast that colourism is "normalised" in the film industry and that she used to get "lightened up" in Bollywood films.
She added that she was considered a "dusky" actress at the early stages of her acting career.
"I was lightened up in many movies, through make-up and then blasting lighting.
"There was a song that I still remember. It was called Chitti Dudh Kudi, which means a girl who is as white as milk. I'm not that but I was playing her, so I was really lightened up in the movie."
Priyanka also didn't shy away from admitting that she has done commercials of "fairness" creams in the past.
However, she added that she eventually realised that they are extremely "damaging".
"I remember when I joined movies, I was considered dusky, written as the dusky actress and I was like, 'What is dusky? What does it mean?'
"Yet I did a commercial for a fairness cream because I was doing a beauty brand. A beauty brand is a really big part of an actress' trajectory. And all the beauty brands were selling those creams."
Priyanka will play the lead role alongside Richard Madden in Prime Video's Citadel, which is releasing next month after almost three years of creative overhauls and re-shoots and a massive budget of more than US$250 million ($333 million).
Citadel is set for a two-episode premiere exclusively on Prime Video on April 28. New episodes will follow every Friday until May 26.
Indo-Asian News Service
"There was a song that I still remember. It was called Chitti Dudh Kudi, which means a girl who is as white as milk. I'm not that but I was playing her, so I was really lightened up in the movie."
- Priyanka Chopra
