Priyanka Chopra: ‘I am doing an Indian film this year, will be announced soon’

The Amazon Prime Video flagship film Heads of State opens with Priyanka Chopra Jonas slithering through a truck during crackerjack stunt sequences at theLa Tomatina festival in Buntildeol SpainNow where do Indians know this annual August gathering that involves pelting tomatoes fromChiefly Zoya Akhtarrsquos Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara 2011 Which was the movie Zoya made before Dil Dhadakne Do 2015 starring Priyanka in itJohn Cena in the filmZoya and her brother Farhan Akhtar were set to do another film Jee Le Zaraa with Priyanka thatrsquos yet to take off Many Indians on the other hand wouldrsquove watched Heads of State because of PriyankaOnly natural then to ask when do we see her back on the Indian screen Itrsquos been a whilePriyanka says ldquoI am doing an Indian film this year And we should be announcing it pretty soonrdquo To which her Heads of State costar John Cena instantly butts in ldquoWell didnrsquot you just announce it nowrdquoFrom left Priyanka Chopra and John Cena in conversation with midday in London PicsAFP InstagramPriyanka laughs ldquoWell I just said I am doing an Indian movie The rest you can speculate but Irsquom excited about itrdquoThis banter closes the quick chat with midday between crossover star Priyanka and the American actor professional wrestler John before the London premiegravere of Ilya Naishullerrsquos Heads of StateWherein John plays the US President who used to be an action star Thatrsquos apt casting alright And you wonder if there are shades in that performance that remind you of other action stars say Arnold Schwarzenegger who became a top politician himselfJohn is emphatic ldquoNo I try not to imitate If any correlation shows itrsquos by chance The job title is enough When you say lsquoPresident of the United Statesrsquo those words have global reach and people have something in mind to do with them anywayldquoThe takeaway is Itrsquos an important job And the movie is about this lsquoimportant jobrsquo put in a situation they donrsquot understand The script reads hersquos empathetic positive arrogant stuffy stubbornhellip You can take all of this and form your own ideas about the rolerdquoJohn is paired opposite Idris Elba as the UK Prime Minister for the US Prezrsquos frenemy in Heads of State Both of whom get locked into a fun verbal duel inside the American presidential plane Air Force One that gets attackedThese are top heads of states somehow looking to politically save the world Guess whorsquos there to save them in person Priyanka as an MI6 agentFor a film with two male hunks for heroes itrsquos instructive that the best action setpieces are reserved for the female lead Also Priyankarsquos been globalmainstream for long enough that her character needs no South Asian roots or any other kinda ethnic explanationUnlike say her debut in the US as Alex Parrish mdash in the ABC TV show Quantico 201518 mdash who was of Indian descent Itrsquos been a decade since In Heads of State Priyanka plays Noelle Bisset PeriodWhich is obviously the rarest of such seamless EastWest mainstream transitions We wonder how itrsquos to deal with the press from both parts of the worldPriyanka says ldquoItrsquos very different In India the interviews are cheekier fun little snazzy versus the western press which doesnrsquot do that a lot unless itrsquos entertainment medialdquoThe second difference is the familiarity with my work Which the western media doesnrsquot have that much of As against the fact that wersquove known each otherrsquos history for 20 yearsrdquoThatrsquos basically the press that can tell John Abraham from John Cena In fact Priyanka says the latter John would kill it in desi movies too ldquoAre you kidding me Hersquod be amazingrdquoJohn jokes ldquoIrsquove been seriously tryingrdquo Both John and Priyanka have no dearth of fans in either hemisphere ldquoNo onersquos casting John Please cast John in a Hindi movie Irsquod love thatrdquo Priyanka laughsThe last we met Priyanka was when shersquod emerged from a shower This was during the shoot of the second season of the Prime Video spyseries Citadel which hasnrsquot dropped yetBut her backbreaking action on that show is only topped by the topsyturvy moves in Heads of State If yoursquore a stunt fan consider her stairwell sequence in the filmrsquos finaleTakes a toll Priyanka argues itrsquos the ldquotrust with the stunt team yoursquore working withrdquo thatrsquos of essence here ldquoMy stuntdouble Anisha Tee Gibbs who works closely with me was the same on Citadel and Heads of State I did actually three backtoback projects with herldquoBecause itrsquos easier We have our own shorthand Shersquoll do all the rehearsals and the runs before And then show me exactly what Irsquom supposed to do Thatrsquos crucial for the physicality of itrdquoThe rest one supposes is timing and chemistry Priyanka also plays the former loveinterest of the UK PM as in Idris Elba in Heads of StateIdrisrsquos character being the thoroughly sober statesmanlike Which is in sharp contrast to Johnrsquos gregarious part given to losing his lid every once in a while John and Idris have earlier starred together in the superhero film The Suicide Squad 2021Once you meet John though you realise his actual self is in even sharper contrast to the role he plays in Heads of State Hersquos supremely Zen when he talks For a man used to being in the middle of the ring yoursquove to strain your ears to hear him well Hersquos polite beyond measureHersquos also unwittingly offered me the socialmedia dopamine once I tell John This is when I woke up long ago to find that hersquos following me on X formerly known as Twitter I went over to his account and realised he follows over 1 million people on XHow does one even follow over a million people on X John remarks ldquoThatrsquos only because they cut me off at following a thousand a dayrdquo Incredible And what does that say about himHe reveals ldquoIn a world where we are so braggadocious about followers my concept with X is to be inclusive And Irsquom very braggadocious about those I followldquoMy goal is to have an open conversation with people from all walks of lifeI know therersquos a lot of negativity and impressionable groups out there I donrsquot wanna ignore themrdquo Spoken truly like a head of state mdash that we all wish to have or wish we had