"People say The Simpsons make fun of every race."
Priyanka Chopra, the Bollywood actress and US Series Quantico star, appeared on the ABC channel’s ‘The View’ talk show discussing the Simpsons Apu controversy and attending the royal wedding.
The chat show which similar to UK ITV channel’s Loose Women is hosted by an all-women panel who chat to guests about activities related to their life and who they are.
Priyanka appeared wearing a delightful figure-hugging tight white dress and looked the complete package of a star that is now very popular amongst US audiences, especially based on the reception she got from the live audience as she came onto the set of the chat show.
Waving to the rapture of claps and shouts for her, she joined the panel of presenters who were very keen and pleased to chat to the Baywatch star.
Married or Not?
An initial question on the show was raised about the social media storm about her the jewellery she was wearing above her left hand in a photo she posted on her Instagram whilst on a flight.
Media speculated it as a symbol that she had got secretly married because what she was wearing resembled a mangalsutra on her wrist. With publications like Pinkvilla, MSN and the Pakistan Express Tribune running the speculative story.
Priyanka laughed on the show as she explained the rituals of a Hindu wedding to the panel and how it could be mistaken for a mangalsutra which was, in fact, an evil eye, and said:
“I am not married. When I get married the world will know and it will never be a secret!”
On Twitter she posted on 30th April, 2018:
“Hahahah!heights of speculation! This is an evil eye guys! Calm down! I’ll tell u when I get married and it won’t be a secret! Lol”
Priyanka then explained what a bindi was and how it is “also cool to wear it”. When asked if married women have a bindi, she replied:
“Yeah, but more than a bindi, they have a red vermillion, powder, in the middle of their forehead.”
Royal Wedding
Next up was the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Priyanka was quizzed about the royal wedding and about her friendship with Meghan Markle to which Priyanka confirmed she is a friend saying:
“I met Meghan very interestingly at like a women.. TV.. dinner, three years ago and we just got on and she’s just like a really cool girl’s girl you know. That’s really nice to have and we just became friends.”
When asked if she will be attending the royal wedding. Priyanka confidently replied: “Yes, I am.”
Talking about what will be the best part of it, Priyanka said:
“Being happy for your friend will be really cool. Because it’s such a life-changing moment.”
“When they get married more than that for her… Because she’s one of us! You know… And to go into that life and that kind of level of crazy. I mean that’s a lot of crazy!”
Priyanka was quoted as saying the Meghan will be a “princess for the people” and she was asked what she meant by it. Priyanka replied:
“I just feel like the world really needs strong role models. Like girls, young girls need real strong role models who are real, who are relatable and she really is one of those people who’s always cared about the world.”
“Like when I met her that’s what we bonded on. You know as young people, millennials today, we need to take charge of the world. If we don’t nobody else is going to.”
Whoopi Goldberg and Bollywood Glamour
The attention then moved to the fact that Priyanka Chopra was not just popular in the US but a huge Bollywood star, which attracted a loud and clapping reception from the audience.
A clip of her dancing in Bajirao Mastani was shown on the screen to which the panel was taken by her glamour on the screen as “beautiful” and “gorgeous”. Priyanka explained:
“That was a period drama in the 1700’s called Bajirao Mastani.”
“Your dancing is fun!” exclaimed a presenter.
Hollywood actress Whoopi Goldberg was also on the panel and in awe of the Bollywood film industry said:
“Have you seen Bollywood movies! Yes! You know hey! We talked about it… I told her I was coming to India!”
Priyanka in agreement replied:
“You should because I told you how much people love you back there!”
Whoopi replied:
“I’m ready to try some Bollywood stuff. They just need to move slower!”
To which Priyanka cunningly replied:
“You know Whoopi, we are also from the land of the Kama Sutra so there is a lot of slow! …” which lead to a huge uproar from the panel and audience.
The Apu Experience
The next hot discussion on the panel was around Apu the character from The Simpsons which has attracted a lot of attention regarding it being a stereotype of Indians and not representative.
Priyanka was asked how does she feel about Apu?
“He was the bane of my life growing up.”
She talked about how people say it’s been a successful show for 30 years with no issue.
“People say The Simpsons make fun of every race.”
Priyanka then went onto discuss how things have changed. Because the show was aired in 1989, it was “pathbreaking for television at that time”.
“Everyone looked yellow except Apu. So that made him stand out completely. Plus he had that accent.” Which Priyanka mimicked and mocked.
“What happened from that time to now… The number… the population of Indian Americans in America has tripled since that time.”
“So the voice is louder. Representation and the demand for representation for people of colour is louder.”
Priyanka then recalled how she was “offended at that time” by Apu’s character representation of Indians.
“I was always asked when I was in high school at 14/15, why I didn’t speak like that.”
Despite her parents being “the stereotype” of doctors, Priyanka said she was asked by other kids “did I find gold in my river. Did we go to school on elephants.”
Chopra believes it is time to change and “we try to erase stereotypes” that the show is “out of date”.
Whoopi raised the point that the show was the “only representation on television” and that they “hit every stereotype” but Apu stood out as a stereotype.
Priyanka said that Apu was the “only Indian representation on television and film.”
The show then went onto discuss Priyanka’s appearance in Quantico and her character as Alex Parrish is set three years later in the new season of the series.
Watch the full interview with Priyanka Chopra on the “The View” chat show:
Priyanka was recently seen defending the Bollywood film industry and not classing it as just a ‘genre’ in a Late Night with Seth Myers interview, where she said:
“I?mean I?don’t really think I?realised that when I was in India working in Hindi films that Bollywood has been reduced to a genre. Which actually it is not. It is an entire industry with movies which is action, drama. It’s like Hollywood, but Bollywood is not even a place. Hollywood is a real place.”
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