Yahoo Finance Priyanka Chopra experiences negativity from South Asian community for succeeding in Hollywood
Priyanka Chopra Jones has said she experiences negativity from within the South Asian community for having a successful career in Hollywood.
The Quantico star and former Miss World 2000 - who began her acting career in Bollywood before moving to the US said she has noticed a divide between fans who are protective of her and those who are cynical about her success outside her own community.
Chopra Jones told BBC Asian Network podcast Beyond Bollywood: "I do notice a sense of protectiveness from a lot of people but also a sense of cynicism from a lot of people and a sense of negativity from a lot of people. Picking on me for no reason.
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"I was talking about this to Mindy [Kaling] a couple of months ago. We were talking about, 'Why is it that you get so much negativity from your own community?'
"Very few brown people are in the entertainment business, you can count us on your fingers. We're trying to create more opportunity for people like us so why is there so much negativity for us?
"When I started working in Hollywood I realised it's not normal to people's consciousness that a leading man or woman can be Indian in a mainstream Hollywood show."
She added: "I've started noticing the difference between fans who know me and are protective of me and they are the wind beneath my wings. I also feel disheartened and discouraged by the other side."
Mindy Kaling is an American-born actor, writer and director whose parents are Indian, known for roles in the The US Office, as well as her own shows The Mindy Project and Champions.
Chopra Jones found fame when she was crowned Miss World in 2000. She began her Bollywood film and music career three years later and in 2015 moved to the US to star in thriller series Quantico.
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In 2018 she began dating singer and actor Nick Jonas, 28, and they married in December that year after a whirlwind romance.
The Matrix 4 star has recently published her memoir Unfinished, in which she details her experiences as a beauty queen, Bollywood star and South Asian performer trying to make it in Hollywood.
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