"Even if a director offers me a movie with exactly five scenes or it`s a blink-and-miss role, I wouldn`t think twice before accepting it provided it`s something challenging and never been done before"------ so says our very own Piggy Chops(that`s Priyanka`s pet name). Joining the Bollywood film industry five years ago, this 25 year old actress and former miss world has already carved out her own niche in Bollywood. Being among the few Indian actresses to take up challenging action packed roles (like those in Don and Krrish) , she has added a new dimension to the meaning of the term `girl-power`. There seems to be a plethora of bright moments in this young actress` professional career. Her roaring affair with the screen has made her experienced in seducing a married man, romancing a superhero and even dodging bullets. In order to avoid being typecast as an action star she is now looking forward to enlarge her repertoire.

Priyanka Chopra was born on 18 July, 1982 in Jamshedpur in the state of Jharkhand in India to Ashok and Madhu Chopra , both doctors. She spent part of her childhood in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Her family had to shift places from time to time as Priyanka`s father was an armyman.

Priyanka Chopra primarily studied at La Martiniere Girls` College in Lucknow . She later went to the United States and joined the Newton North High School in Newton in Massachusetts. Later she was admitted to the North Delta Senior Secondary High School in North Delta before returning to India to complete high school at the Army Public School in Bareilly. After her schooling was complete, she joined Jai Hind College in Mumbai but left after winning the Miss World pageant.

Priyanka Chopra was crowned Miss India World 2000 and later went on to win the Miss World title in the same year. This year was a remarkable landmark in Indian glory as it was in this year that Lara Dutta and Diya Mirza, both from India, won the Miss Universe and Miss Asia Pacific crowns respectively. Priyanka Chopra became the fifth Indian woman to win the title, and the fourth Indian woman to win within a duration of seven years.

After winning the Miss World title, Priyanka started her acting career. She first acted in a Tamil film Thamizhan (2002) and then ventured into Bollywood . In 2003, her first Bollywood film, The Hero: Love Story of a Spy was released . Although the film did not do well at the box office, Priyanka won rave reviews for her role. Her next film, Andaaz, co-starring Akshay Kumar and Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta, was a success, adding to her kitty a Filmfare Best Debut Award and a nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award.

Her next few films failed to do well at the box office. In 2004, her film, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi released and became the third highest profiting film of that year. Her next release, Aitraaz, a Hindi remake of the Demi Moore-starrer Disclosure , featured her in her first negative role and won her great critical acclaimation . For her role as the seductive, obsessed `other woman` she won the Filmfare Best Villain Award. This role also got her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. In the same year, she participated in the world tour fittingly titled "Temptations 2004" with Bollywood`s top actors , Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta and Arjun Rampal.

In 2005, she had many releases such as Karam, Waqt, Yakeen, though most didn`t do well at the box office. In 2006 came the two milestones - Krrish and Don - through which she was to pave a new avenue as a `power girl`. Nikhil Advani`s multi-starrer, Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love was Priyanka`s first release in 2007. Both Salaam-e-Ishq and another recent release Big Brother failed to do well in the box office.

Inspite of ups and downs in her variegated acting career, Priyanka has always maintained her hold amidst the gruelling competition of Bollywood . She was trained in martial arts for Don and Krrish and is looking forward to improve her `action` skills for her upcoming film Drona, where she plays a bodyguard adept at fighting with a sword. The real Priyanka Chopra , stripped of all the glitter of Bollywood, is a girl who is very close to her family. The recent buzz is that Priyanka is singing a song for her father`s album and will also feature in the music video.