Priyanka Chopra has one of the most unusual career arcs in modern entertainment. Now, she is being candid about the friction that drove it. In a recent interview with Firstpost, the global star revealed she never wanted to leave Bollywood. The admission, however, came with a word that changes everything — pushed.
“I Felt Limited”: Priyanka on Why She Left Bollywood
Priyanka did not mince words when she spoke about her shift from Hindi cinema to Hollywood. “I don’t think I ever wanted to leave Bollywood,” she said. “I felt limited for many reasons. I wanted to expand. I was kind of pushed into wanting to look for opportunities that would be exciting to me as an artiste.”
Notably, she stopped short of naming names. That one word — pushed — lands with full force when it comes from someone who was, at the time, one of Bollywood’s most bankable stars. So the decision was not purely about ambition. By her own account, it was partly about necessity.
How the Hollywood Transition Actually Began
Priyanka started her Hollywood journey in 2012 with a music career. It was an unconventional entry point for a film actor. Then, in 2015, she landed the lead role in Quantico on ABC. As a result, she became one of the first South Asian actors to headline a primetime American network drama. That was a genuine breakthrough — not a token casting.
What followed was a decade of steady repositioning. Supporting roles in Baywatch and The Matrix Resurrections kept her visible in major studio productions. Moreover, both films helped her build credibility on the industry’s own terms. Most audiences never see that grind. Furthermore, most Bollywood crossover attempts have failed to sustain it this long.
The difference now is clear — she is not filling slots in other people’s films. She is headlining them.
Twelve Years to Reach the Power to Choose
“After almost 12 years or so, I am finding the momentum to pick and choose really amazing work — and that’s not easy,” she told Firstpost. That sentence deserves more attention than it usually gets. Reaching creative selectivity in a foreign industry, starting with zero local equity, takes more than talent. It takes architecture.
Her current slate reflects exactly that shift. Citadel, the high-budget Amazon spy series, established her as a global action lead. Additionally, Heads of State is another major international production currently in her pipeline. On February 25, The Bluff arrives on Amazon Prime Video — a pirate adventure directed by Frank E. Flowers, co-starring Karl Urban, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Safia Oakley-Green, and Temuera Morrison. It is, notably, the kind of genre film that Indian actors rarely get to lead in the West.
“I Would Hate to Have to Choose”: Her Complicated Bond With Bollywood
Despite her candid admission, Priyanka’s connection to Indian cinema remains deeply felt. “I love my Indian films,” she said. “I am really happy to be back in Varanasi, India, and I would hate to have to choose between the two. I never have.”
Furthermore, she describes her dual-industry existence not as a compromise but as a skill. “My brain can work in two different ways — it’s a unique, amazing, fun thing to be able to do.” That insight often gets lost in the Bollywood-versus-Hollywood framing. Rather than being divided between two worlds, she has expanded into both.
Rajamouli’s Varanasi Marks a Long-Awaited Return to Indian Cinema
Her return to India is not hypothetical. Priyanka will star in S.S. Rajamouli’s Varanasi alongside Mahesh Babu and Prithviraj Sukumaran. The project marks her first Indian film in eight years and also ranks among the most anticipated Indian productions in recent memory. Scheduled for a theatrical release in April 2027, the film represents a full-circle moment.
For an actor who felt pushed out of Bollywood, the re-entry could not be better timed. Or better cast.
What This Moment Really Means for Her Career
Priyanka Chopra’s Hollywood story is still unfolding. However, the narrative has clearly shifted — she arrived out of circumstance, stayed out of determination, and now operates from a position of genuine choice. Whether Indian cinema fully reckons with what it lost, and what it is getting back, remains one of the more interesting questions in the industry right now.
