Priyanka Chopra defends beauty pageants because they 'kickstarted' her career

Despite Miss World being under fire for its 'relevance,' Priyanka recently revealed that winning in 2000 'helped her'

Priyanka Chopra, a former beauty queen, is defending beauty pageants at a time when their relevance is being reconsidered.

The Bollywood-Hollywood actor, who is now married to Jonas Brothers Nick Jonas, opened up about her thoughts on the now-controversial issue.

In an interview with UK's Tatler magazine, Chopra said appearing in pageants gave her great confidence. "It’s something that I’m extremely proud of,” revealed the former Miss World.

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“It gave me a trampoline to my acting career. It gave me a sense of self, a sense of confidence to be able to stand in front of heads of state, to be able to speak in front of media from around the world, and actually know what I’m talking about.”

Chopra made her acting debut soon after winning the Miss World crown in 2000, with The Hero: Love Story of a Spy. She has appeared in popular Hindi films such as Krrish and Don, Kaminey , 7 Khoon Maaf, Barfi!, Mary Kom, and Bajirao Mastani.

Moving to Hollywood, Chopra landed a leading role in the spy series Quantico, following which she appeared in a negative role in Baywatch.

But it doesn't end there, because now Chopra has multiple international projects lined up, such as a romantic comedy with Mindy Kaling, Matrix 4, Robert Rodriguez’s Netflix superhero film, Ramin Bahrani’s adaptation of the White Tiger, and a Maa Anand Sheela biopic.

Are beauty pageants really more about social responsibility? Miss World seems to think so 

“When I went to America, there wasn’t a precedence. I didn’t have a road map to follow because there was no one who had done it before. I had to figure it out, walk into rooms, introduce myself, say ‘I am an Indian actor, my name is Priyanka Chopra, these are the kind of films I want to do," she told Hindustan Times in an interview.

"I demanded playing leading ladies, instead of having parts which were the stereotype of what a Bollywood actor would usually get. Those also came to me, but I was very clear about what I wanted to do.”

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Beauty pageants have been around for decades and have been the centre of heated debates among women—feminists and non-feminists—for just as long.

In a bid to become ‘more inclusive’, women from minority groups and different backgrounds have started making their mark in the competitive industry.

Miss World, which is broadcast to more than 120 countries, has regularly attracted criticism for being a “degrading” contest.

Protests have taken place at the event in previous years, such as in 2011 when about 100 demonstrators turned up to object to what they saw as a “human cattle market”.

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