It's my dream to be able to play a man: Priyanka Chopra

'Freedom that men have experienced for so many years... that's all the women want'

Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra has essayed many diverse roles in her 15-year-old film career, managing to pave her way into the world of Hollywood. However, she isn't stopping there... she now has her eye on playing a male role, as well as featuring on Broadway too, reported IANS.

At an interactive session for Ficci FLO in New Delhi, Chopra spoke strongly about how her Quantico character Alex Parrish was fearlessly unapologetic - something that all women need to be. "Alex to me is an unapologetic modern female who lives life on her terms. She is extremely flawed, she's not perfect, she's a loner, she doesn't like people, she only uses people... So, she's basically playing a man, which is awesome, because girls don't get to play that... And I was like 'Yes, we get to turn the tables'," the Mary Kom star said.

PHOTO: VARIETY

She continued, "It's my dream to be able to play a man... That's the next thing I want to do," added the actor, who also expressed a desire to do Broadway. Referring to her role as a villain in Baywatch, Chopra was asked whether she believed she was already playing characters  written for men. "The only thing I ask for is 'let me make my own decisions without being judged for it'. That's the freedom that men have experienced for so many years... And that's all the women want," the Bajirao Mastani actor said to an applause from an audience full of women.

When Chopra landed a chance to play Parrish, she broke barriers to become the first South Asian woman to headline an American network series. "I've lived in America as a child, and my biggest pet peeve then was not seeing anyone on the television who looked like me. So whenever you saw Indians in global mainstream entertainment, you always saw them in a box of nerds, the big fat Punjabi family wedding or the shopkeeper... like Apu from The Simpsons."

PHOTO: DECCAN CHRONICLE

She continued, "Why could we not go beyond that? Why did our ethnicity define the roles we played? So, the only thing I told the people was that don't come to me with a show based on a big Punjabi wedding, I won't do it... I don't want to be put in a box and I don't want my ethnicity to define the roles I take on."

Quantico had her play a half Indian, and that had nothing to do with the story. "That for me was my biggest win. I had dug my feet in and I said I will not compromise on what I see as the future of global entertainment for people like me and South Asians. I think that gave me the confidence to dig my feet further and demand the kind of parts that I want to do," said the star.

PHOTO: PEOPLE

This has continued with Baywatch and her other upcoming projects abroad. "I am playing characters which have nothing to do with my ethnicity and I feel it will open the door for Indian/ South Asian talent to become mainstream... Why do we play the sidekicks? I want to play the leading lady and I am not going to compromise on it."

Chopra's next Hollywood release will be Isn't It Romantic? alongside Liam Hemsworth and Rebel Wilson. There are also talks of her co-starring with Chris Pratt in Cowboy Ninja Viking.

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The superstar is currently in India though, to shoot for Shonali Bose's The Sky Is Pink, in which she will be seen as a mother of an 18-year-old girl. And guess what? She doesn't care about her 'image' in regard to playing a parent on-screen. "Nobody can take my glamour away," she said confidently, reminding everyone that she not only played a mother in Pyaar Impossible but also a 65-year-old in 7 Khoon Maaf.

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