TORONTO: No Indian star has made a bigger splash in Hollywood than Priyanka Chopra — and the “Baywatch” actress said she is on a quest to shatter myths about Bollywood, including its approach to sex.
Chopra was the first Indian actress to lead a primetime US series with FBI thriller “Quantico,” and cemented her global celebrity status by marrying pop singer Nick Jonas last December.
That star power secured a glitzy, red-carpet slot at Toronto’s film festival for “The Sky is Pink,” Chopra’s first Hindi-language film in three years. It is the only Asian film on the prestigious gala lineup at North America’s biggest movie festival.
“People get surprised when they see ‘The Sky is Pink’ and they’re like, ‘this is not a Bollywood movie.’ Bollywood is not a genre!” Chopra said ahead of the premiere Friday.
“It really is my quest to educate people in that.”
Directed by Shonali Bose, “The Sky is Pink” tells the tragic true story of Aisha Chaudhary, an inspirational Delhi teenager whose life was cut short by a rare genetic disorder.
Chaudhary delivered a TED talk and wrote a book on her battle before her death in 2015 at the age of 18. But the film focuses on her parents, exploring how their marriage and love — and even their sex life — survived the loss of two children.
Until recently kissing was rarely shown in films made by conservative Bollywood, better known abroad for its colorful musical numbers and fairytale romantic plots.
“I don’t think we haven’t spoken about sexuality in Indian films — we do,” said Chopra, 37. “I think sexuality is spoken about in many different ways in Indian cinema.”
“It’s culturally sensitive, yes,” she added. “India is an amalgamation of modernity and tradition. And this film is made by a modern Indian. So hence, you see what her language is. This is true to who she is.”
Bose, whose own marriage ended after she lost her son, was approached by Chaudhary’s parents to make the film.
Chaudhary had been a fervent fan of the director’s work, and never fulfilled her “dying wish” to see Bose’s previous film “Margarita With A Straw.”
Bose said she was moved by the request but chose to focus on the parents after learning of their “amazing” love story and care for their child.
“They wanted the film to be about their heroic dying teenage girl, and I don’t feel she would’ve wanted to be on a pedestal — actually she was really cool and humble,” she said.
Chopra, who does not have children, said she drew on others’ experiences, including Bose’s, to play Chaudhary’s mother Aditi.
But there is plenty of Chopra in the role too. At one point her character is described as “the ‘almost’ Miss India.” Chopra herself was crowned Miss World in 2000.
As beauty pageants led to acting, Chopra, who attended school in the US, said she held onto her global outlook.
Also a singer, Chopra has released songs with US chart-toppers including Pitbull and The Chainsmokers.
“It’s a genuine quest of mine to be able to cross-pollinate cultures, and to be able to take Indian cinema to the globe as much as I can,” she said, adding: “It’s not the language that’s the barrier — it is the fear of the unknown.”
Movie-mad India has the largest film industry in the world in terms of the number produced — up to 2,000 every year in more than 20 languages, according to industry data.
Bollywood star Akshay Kumar regularly appears in Forbes’ annual list of the world’s top 10 highest-paid actors.
In recent years Bollywood’s influence has spread in North America, thanks to a growing, affluent South Asian diaspora — and a smattering of Western converts.
But while other Bollywood actors and actresses have landed high-profile roles in the US, such as Deepika Padukone in 2017’s “XXX: Return of Xander Cage,” none are as recognizable as Chopra.
“I really hope that there’s so many more entertainers from India that get the opportunity and push themselves toward global entertainment,” said Chopra.
“The world of entertainment is so global now,” she added. “With streaming coming in everyone from anywhere can watch anything.”
‘My quest’: Priyanka Chopra brings Bollywood to Toronto
‘My quest’: Priyanka Chopra brings Bollywood to Toronto
- Priyanka Chopra was the first Indian actress to lead a primetime US series
- ‘The Sky is Pink is Chopra’s first Hindi-language film in three year
Creators spotlight graphic novels as powerful literacy tools at Dubai literature festival
DUBAI: Comic creators Jamie Smart, John Patrick Green and Mo Abedin joined the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in Dubai this week to discuss the growing role of comics in classrooms and how graphic novels are reshaping children’s relationship with reading.
Smart is the author of the bestselling “Bunny vs. Monkey” series, Green is known for his popular “The InvestiGators” books about crime-solving alligators, and Abedin is the UAE-based creator of the sci-fi graphic novel “Solarblader."
A key point shared by all three speakers was that comics should be valued as a complete art form rather than a stepping stone to prose. Abedin described comics as “a very high art form,” explaining that the medium taught readers how to process complex ideas such as emotion, empathy and culture through visual storytelling.
He added that comics allowed readers to slow down and engage on their own terms because “the reader is also able to control the pace of the narrative.”
For Smart, the power of comics lies in the emotional connection they create. He spoke about how the word “comics” immediately takes him back to childhood, recalling being “eight years old and going down the newsagent” and spending hours reading. That sense of joy, he said, is what many reluctant readers respond to. He noted that parents often tell him, “My child would not read a book, a single book … until they picked up a comic,” adding that comics inform readers even when they are simply entertaining. “They can just be an emotional, heartfelt story,” he said.
Green focused on how comics function as a visual language that readers learn over time. He described them as “almost a separate language,” noting that some adults struggle at first because they are unsure how to read a page — whether to follow images or text. But that flexibility is what gives comics their strength, allowing readers to choose how they experience a story and giving them more agency than prose or film.
The panel also discussed re-reading as a powerful part of the comics experience. Children often race through a book for the plot, then return to notice visual details, background jokes and character expressions, building deeper comprehension with each reading.
By the end of the session, all three agreed that comics should be studied and respected as their own form of literature — one that welcomes readers of all levels, builds confidence and makes reading feel like discovery rather than obligation.
