Priyanka Chopra On #MeToo Movement: People Can't Shut Us Down Anymore

Priyanka Chopra is known for being a flag-bearer of women empowerment and has often spoken out about gender issues. In a recent interview with Women in the World founder Tina Brown at the Women in World Summit 2019, the Quantico star talked about the #MeToo movement in Bollywood and facing sexual harrassment herself.

Priyanka was asked if the #MeToo movement hit Bollywood the way it did in Hollywood, and she said that it takes an incredible amount of courage for women to come and talk about it in a patriarchal country. "Sexual harassment had become a norm with women. Now because of the support we are giving each other, people don't have the power to shut us down. And that's an incredibly powerful thing to see. Now if I have a story I don't feel I am alone anymore – and I am not ashamed of it," the actress said.

The UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador was among the first to speak out in support of the #MeToo movement, which was triggered in India by actress Tanushree Dutta last year. "Believe Women," Priyanka had written on her Instagram page. She had also quote tweeted Farhan Akhtar's tweet where he lent support to Tanushree.

When asked if she ever faced sexual harassment, she raised her hand saying everybody in this room has probably faced one because it had become a norm with women.

Priyanka also talked about her career, her relationship with husband Nick Jonas, and how modernization is impacting women in India. Starting with why other Indian actors don't opt for crossovers in Hollywood, Priyanka said, "A lot of actors that I speak to don't have ambitions to move out of the industry. Bollywood is the biggest, if not the first industry to make films and the demographic is so large, they don't want to leave that."

She also mentioned stereotyping of South Asian actors. "I played ethnically ambiguous parts. It took me all those ethnically ambiguous parts to be where I am today. I did not want to do stereotype roles because then all you will see is what I already know I can do. I am Indian, I can do that," she said.

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