Parineeti Chopra (pronounced [pəriːniːt̪iː ˈtʃoːpɽaː]; born 22 October 1988) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films. Chopra has received several accolades, including a Filmfare and a National Film Award. Chopra has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2013.
After obtaining a triple honours degree in business, finance and economics from Manchester Business School, Chopra made her acting debut with the 2011 romantic comedy Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, winning the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. She followed it by garnering acclaim for her starring roles in the box-office hits Ishaqzaade (2012), Shuddh Desi Romance (2013) and Hasee Toh Phasee (2014). The first of these won her the National Film Award – Special Mention. This success was followed by a three-year hiatus and several poorly received films, with the exception of the horror-comedy Golmaal Again (2017) and the war drama Kesari (2019), in which she had a brief role. Chopra has since earned praise for her roles in the black comedy Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar (2021) and the biographical drama Amar Singh Chamkila (2024), and had a supporting role in the ensemble film Uunchai (2022).
In addition to her acting career, Chopra is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products. She has sung some of her film songs, including "Maana Ke Hum Yaar Nahin" and "Teri Mitti". In 2022, Chopra ventured into television by judging the reality show Hunarbaaz: Desh Ki Shaan on Colors TV. Chopra is married to politician Raghav Chadha with whom she has a son.
Chopra was born on 22 October 1988 in Ambala, Haryana, into a Punjabi Hindu family.
Her father, Pawan Chopra, is a businessman and supplier to the Indian Army at Ambala Cantonment, and her mother is Reena Chopra. She has two brothers, Shivang and Sahaj. Actresses Priyanka Chopra, Meera Chopra and Mannara Chopra are her cousins.
Chopra was educated at Convent of Jesus and Mary, Ambala. She later moved to England at the age of 17 and obtained a triple honours degree in business, finance and economics from Alliance Manchester Business School.
During her studies, she worked part-time for Manchester United F.C. as a team leader in the catering department. She is also a trained Hindustani classical singer and holds a degree in music.
In 2009, Chopra returned to India during the Great Recession and moved to Mumbai. She joined Yash Raj Films as an intern in the marketing department and later worked as a public relations consultant.
While working on promotions for Band Baaja Baaraat (2010), she decided to pursue acting. After a screen test, she was signed by producer Aditya Chopra to a three-film contract with Yash Raj Films.
Breakthrough and acclaimed success (2011–2014)
In 2011, Chopra made her screen debut in a supporting role in debutant Maneesh Sharma's romantic comedy Ladies vs Ricky Bahl starring Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma in lead roles. Chopra played the Delhi-based "rich and spoiled brat" Dimple Chadda. The film emerged as a moderate commercial success at the box-office, and received mixed reviews from critics; however, Chopra's performance received high praise. Komal Nahta said, "Of the three other girls, Chopra is undoubtedly the best. She has the best role, the best lines and hers is the best performance among the three." Priyanka Roy of The Telegraph described Chopra as "natural" and wrote "Among the ladies, debutante Chopra almost steals the show from Sharma." It earned her several Best Debut awards at various award ceremonies including Filmfare, Screen, IIFA Producers Guild Film Awards. Chopra also received Best Supporting Actress nominations at several ceremonies, including Filmfare, and won the Producers Guild and IIFA Awards in the same category.
Chopra's second release was Habib Faisal's action romantic drama Ishaqzaade in which she played a leading role as Zoya, opposite debutant Arjun Kapoor. The film emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, and received positive reviews from critics, with Chopra's performance receiving critical acclaim. Taran Adarsh observed, "Chopra is simply fantastic [...] Playing the part of a spirited gun-toting girl, she is not the regular timid, decorous, withdrawn Hindi film heroine. She portrays the violent behavior coupled with the audacious and brash attitude with aplomb", and Rajeev Masand labelled her the "biggest strength of the film". The film grossed over ₹46 crore (US$4.8 million) at the domestic box-office, and was termed a "super hit" by Box Office India. Chopra's performance earned her the National Film Award – Special Mention at the 60th National Film Awards, and her first nominations for the Producers Guild, Screen and Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
Chopra next starred alongside Sushant Singh Rajput and Vaani Kapoor in the romantic comedy-drama Shuddh Desi Romance (2013), her second collaboration with Maneesh Sharma. It received positive reviews from critics, with Chopra's portrayal of Gayatri, an outspoken and rebellious girl, received high critical acclaim. CNN-IBN noted that the film belonged to Chopra, who "turns Gayatri into the most real woman one have encountered on screen", and the critic Mayank Shekhar added "Chopra's act in the film's first half is nothing short of National Film Award-winning material." Shuddh Desi Romance emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, grossing ₹46 crore (US$4.8 million) domestically. Chopra garnered several Best Actress nominations, including a second consecutive nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
Chopra's first of three releases of 2014 was Dharma Productions' romantic comedy-drama Hasee Toh Phasee, her first role outside the Yash Raj Films banner. She portrayed Dr. Meeta Solanki, a mad scientist on the run, opposite Sidharth Malhotra. Directed by Vinil Mathew and jointly produced by Anurag Kashyap and Karan Johar, the film emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, and received positive reviews from critics, with Chopra's performance receiving widespread critical acclaim. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV wrote that Chopra was "pitch-perfect with her goofball act" and Hindustan Times published that she re-defined the concept of a Bollywood heroine with the film. For her performance in the film, she won the BIG Star Entertainment Award for Most Entertaining Actor in a Comedy Film and received Best Actress nomination at Screen and Stardust Awards.
Habib Faisal's dowry-based social comedy film Daawat-e-Ishq marked Chopra's second collaboration with Faisal. She was cast as Gulrez "Gullu" Qadir, a middle-class salesgirl from Hyderabad alongside Aditya Roy Kapur and Anupam Kher. The film received mixed reviews from critics upon release, though Chopra's performance received praise. Film critic Sarita A. Tanwar from Daily News Analysis found Chopra to be "the best thing about the film" and added, "Chopra shines in every scene. She does what she does every single time — rises head and shoulders above the film and her costars." Chopra next played her first "glamorous role" in Shaad Ali's crime film Kill Dil, co-starring Govinda, Singh and Ali Zafar. Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com found the film to be a "disaster" and wrote that "Chopra is terribly miscast and wears clothes that should have never left the wardrobe". Both Daawat-e-Ishq and Kill Dil were unsuccessful at the box office. The same year, she also appeared in the short film, Dor as Ria.
Hiatus and career fluctuations (2015–2020)
Post the release of Kill Dil, Chopra took a 3-year sabbatical from full-time acting, during which she briefly portrayed guest character Muskaan Raza Qureshi in Dishoom (2016), appearing in the song "Jaaneman Aah" alongside Varun Dhawan. She returned to the screen in 2017 with Yash Raj Films' romantic drama Meri Pyaari Bindu opposite Ayushmann Khurrana. Anisha Jhaveri of IndieWire praised Chopra for "grounding Bindu with flickers of genuine sensitivity and vulnerability [...] hinting that there's more to the character behind that flighty surface." Rajeev Masand called her performance as "sincere", but felt that the actress was given very less to work thanks to the "flighty and fickle" nature of her character. She next starred opposite Ajay Devgn in Rohit Shetty's horror-comedy Golmaal Again, the fourth installment in the Golmaal film series. Bollywood Hungama noted, "Chopra has a crucial character and from the first sequence itself, there's an element of mystery surrounding her character that adds to the fun. She looks beautiful and does a good job." The film broke several box-office records and was eventually declared a blockbuster, thus becoming her highest-grossing film to date. It grossed over ₹311 crore (US$32 million) at the box-office, thus becoming one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.