In an exclusive interview with indianexpress.com, Priyanka Chopra talks about how she drew inspiration from her parents to play a parent in the movie, her plan to promote the film through mainstream American media and much more.

Priyanka Chopra has returned to Hindi films even as she continues to work in Hollywood. Her upcoming movie along with actor Farhan Akhtar, The Sky Is Pink, directed by Shonali Bose releases on October 11.

In this interview with indianexpress.com, Priyanka talks about how she drew inspiration from her parents to play a parent in the movie, her plan to promote the film through mainstream American media and much more.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

Q. You have said that playing this character has been an immersive experience for you. Did it start consuming or exhausting you at any point?

I love something that makes me nervous in my job. It is very easy to be easy when you have done enough work. So, it wasn’t exhausting. However, the exhausting part was planning the wedding and shooting for the film. That was also not exhausting, but that got…like… Sometimes I would think I have just too many things to manage, besides that nothing, I loved it.

Q. Did you draw any inspiration from your mother while preparing to play Aditi’s character?

Yes, I did. Actually Niren and Aditi both remind me of my parents a lot. My parents were fully like this, they were always absolutely supportive and fun loving. My childhood is full of happiest memories. My dad used to make everything an adventure, and Aditi and Niren are sort of like that. So, I derived a lot from Shonali and Aditi, but also my parents and my upbringing.

Q. How different has it been promoting a Hindi film at this point? What will be your USA campaign like when you start promoting this film even there?

I have never seen a Bollywood movie being promoted on mainstream American television before, so I am very excited to do that. I am excited to see how people will react to a Hindi language film on the TV shows that I will be going on. So, it is sort of experimental because there is no presidence to it, so I don’t know how it will be.

Secondly, I feel, promotions are the same everywhere. When you work really hard on a product, you have to work really hard to let people know that it is coming, especially in today’s day and age where there is so much information and entertainment in so many different kind of streams. So, film promotions are extremely important, just for people to be aware of the fact that the film is coming, but that won’t make them come to the theater obviously, but the awareness needs to be created. And, I have been enjoying it tremendously.

Q. How has Bollywood changed for you? What are the kind of films you want to do, and what are the kind of character you want to play now?

I don’t think I look at roles, I never have. For me, I have to choose from what comes to me. I am just looking to find things that challenge me. And by challenge, I don’t mean that it has to be a drama, it has to be something I have not done before, and that has been my quest through my entire career. All the parts that I have played, I have always tried to play different characters, and that is going to be my quest even as I go forward. I like to surprise myself, otherwise it gets boring, normal is boring. It has to be something that makes me want to get up and think ‘oh my god, what am I going to do?’

I am meeting a lot of people, I am constantly thinking about what I want to do next in Hindi.

Q. You are an established Bollywood actor, and have now worked in western films and shows too. Tell me the process of turning Indian stories into global films.

I think we have had stories, and we have stories that have the potential. I really think it is up to us now, specially because the world is so globalised, as filmmakers and as an indsutry, to send talent and have the confidence to say that I want to be a part of global entertainment as actors, technicians, or anything. It is time to take our cinema and promote and show it in places as foreign language films in different parts of the world.

Outside of Hollywood, we are the only biggest movie industry in the world. We make about nine thousand movies a year. I think that is going to be a big step and it is my life’s dream to see Hindi cinema get what it deserves in terms of its due. I think filmmakers are very well aware of it.