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Priyanka Chopra Jonas Breaks Down 5 Major Scenes From Her Movies

Aitraaz, Mary Kom, Kaminey and more - the Citadel actress talks about how she approached each role and what helped her prepare for them
Priyanka Chopra Jonas Breaks Down 5 Major Scenes From Her Movies

In an interview with Film Companion in 2015, actress Priyanka Chopra spoke about what went into the making of five pivotal scenes from her filmography, what her mindset was at the time of filming and how she approached the role as a whole. We revisit the interview:

1. Aitraaz (2004) – The lovemaking scene

"The day we were supposed to shoot, I was just like 'I can't do it in front of so many people, I don't know what I am doing.' And I was crying. I remember this was a glass house in South Africa, but they had a basement and Abbas-Mustan took me downstairs with Akshay (Kumar), with one of the ADs. About four-five of us sat down, I was howling in a white dress and I was like, I don't know how to say the line ('Show me you're an animal'). I don't understand – what would be the right way to say it without looking like I am a sexual predator. That's when Abbas-Mustan said to me, 'But that's who you're playing' and it clicked in my head."
"The day we were supposed to shoot, I was just like 'I can't do it in front of so many people, I don't know what I am doing.' And I was crying. I remember this was a glass house in South Africa, but they had a basement and Abbas-Mustan took me downstairs with Akshay (Kumar), with one of the ADs. About four-five of us sat down, I was howling in a white dress and I was like, I don't know how to say the line ('Show me you're an animal'). I don't understand – what would be the right way to say it without looking like I am a sexual predator. That's when Abbas-Mustan said to me, 'But that's who you're playing' and it clicked in my head."

2. Fashion (2008) – In which she tells her boss' wife about their affair

"So many undercurrents…humiliation and overcompensation of that humiliation by putting the man in his place. In this scene I remember, Madhur (Bhandarkar) wanted Arbaaz (Khan) to be extremely humiliated and feel really small for what he had done – not just to me but to his wife as well. So how do I give him that? Every scene has an end result for the film – what is the contribution of this scene to the film? I could've still done this hurt, I could've still turned around and said, "Bill toh unhone hi bhara hai." It would have changed – he would've felt guilty. I didn't' want him to feel guilty, I wanted him to feel small."
"So many undercurrents…humiliation and overcompensation of that humiliation by putting the man in his place. In this scene I remember, Madhur (Bhandarkar) wanted Arbaaz (Khan) to be extremely humiliated and feel really small for what he had done – not just to me but to his wife as well. So how do I give him that? Every scene has an end result for the film – what is the contribution of this scene to the film? I could've still done this hurt, I could've still turned around and said, "Bill toh unhone hi bhara hai." It would have changed – he would've felt guilty. I didn't' want him to feel guilty, I wanted him to feel small."

3. Kaminey (2009) – In which she convinces her boyfriend to have unprotected sex

"(This is) one of the first scenes we shot. There was a beautiful irony to it, where she says, 'Main home science ki topper hoon' cut to 'what do I do?' I love Vishal Bhardwaj's humour, it's so straight-faced. Especially in this film, it's hilarious. In this scene they (she and Shahid Kapoor) are so convinced ki humara kuch hoga hi nahi, there's no chance (of a pregnancy). And they're kids who are in love and they're just completely unaware of the repercussions."
"(This is) one of the first scenes we shot. There was a beautiful irony to it, where she says, 'Main home science ki topper hoon' cut to 'what do I do?' I love Vishal Bhardwaj's humour, it's so straight-faced. Especially in this film, it's hilarious. In this scene they (she and Shahid Kapoor) are so convinced ki humara kuch hoga hi nahi, there's no chance (of a pregnancy). And they're kids who are in love and they're just completely unaware of the repercussions."

4. Barfi! (2012) – In which she and Barfi are reunited

"The thing where we touch each other's noses – the idea was Barfi (played by Ranbir Kapoor) and Jhilmil have found each other and in a normal relationship, people would kiss. What do we do when we don't kiss? It was something I said – there should be some physical proximity. Autistic people don't like physical proximity. The fact that she's allowing him so close to her is the kiss."
"The thing where we touch each other's noses – the idea was Barfi (played by Ranbir Kapoor) and Jhilmil have found each other and in a normal relationship, people would kiss. What do we do when we don't kiss? It was something I said – there should be some physical proximity. Autistic people don't like physical proximity. The fact that she's allowing him so close to her is the kiss."

5. Mary Kom (2014) – Her angry meltdown in front of the judges

"Google 'Mary Kom fight judges'. This is a real incident. I saw her videos. This was all one shot, one steady-cam shot which comes all the way. This was the first take, the second take was horrible. I just sat and prepped and prepped and prepped – I just wanted to be as angry as her. Just see that video of hers, how angry she was. She picked up a damn chair and threw it at the judges. And I just wanted to capture that. So I saw that video a bunch of times the night before and a lot of the lines are the same. 'I'm an Indian, India mere dil mein hai' – that's exactly what she said."
"Google 'Mary Kom fight judges'. This is a real incident. I saw her videos. This was all one shot, one steady-cam shot which comes all the way. This was the first take, the second take was horrible. I just sat and prepped and prepped and prepped – I just wanted to be as angry as her. Just see that video of hers, how angry she was. She picked up a damn chair and threw it at the judges. And I just wanted to capture that. So I saw that video a bunch of times the night before and a lot of the lines are the same. 'I'm an Indian, India mere dil mein hai' – that's exactly what she said."

Watch the full interview here:

Priyanka Chopra
Kaminey
Mary Kom
Aitraaz

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