Actor Priyanka Chopra was honoured at the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia on Thursday night for her achievement in the cinema industry. She was presented the honourary award by Sex and the City actress Sarah Jessica Parker. During her acceptance speech, Priyanka recalled how she was told that non-English films, like Hindi and Telugu, would not do well internationally, but is now glad that the myth has been busted.
“When I started working, I was 18 years old. I remember I was told that I come from an industry that spoke Hindi and Telugu, non-English films. I remember when I was seeking work across borders, I was told that films with subtitles or films that are non-English don't travel. Yet, here we are today," the Bajirao Mastani actress said.
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Priyanka also thanked the organisers of the Red Sea Film Festival for providing a stage where different creators can freely express their cinematic art. "You have been able to create a safe, incredible space for filmmakers and storytellers around the world to come together without the thought of nationality, language, and borders. We know as people who work, and I might be biased, but in one of the best, most incredible industries in the world, we get to play for a living, we get to tell stories for a living, we get to dream for a living... you have been able to bring people together outside of borders, and languages to just celebrate this incredible medium of cinema."
The Quantico actress also took time to thank her husband Nick Jonas, and called her father, Ashok Chopra, who passed away in 2013, the “first entertainer” she knew. “He was the first one to show me how unabashed entertainment can be, how completely confident at the same time completely vulnerable it can be, and we get the opportunity to do that in our art form,” she said.
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On Wednesday, during a conversation at the RSFF, Chopra said she has a Bollywood project lined up for next year, but she is yet to make a final decision on whether or not she will take it up.
