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After winning Miss World pageant at the turn of the century, Priyanka Chopra was awash with offers for films but it was a reluctant teenager who said yes to cinema. Priyanka Chopra’s mother Madhu Chopra had recalled that the academically-inclined actress was not interested in acting and there were big blobs of tears on the contract of her acting debut Thamizhan, opposite Vijay.
To facilitate Priyanka’s acting career, Madhu had to travel with 18-year-old Priyanka and in the process, her son Siddharth Chopra became the ‘collateral damage’ as he had to be left alone at home and ‘just grew up on his own’. As Priyanka and Siddharth’s father Dr Ashok Chopra was busy with his work as a doctor, Madhu had said in an earlier interview that she regrets how Siddharth grew up without parental influence.
Madhu had said on Something Bigger Show in the past, “Siddharth was the collateral damage to all of Priyanka’s success, because their dad (Dr Ashok Chopra) was working, I was with Priyanka, he just grew up on his own and he was a teenager at that time. He, I think, was collateral damage for me.” Madhu got emotional as she spoke about Siddharth and shared, “When I think about it, these are certain things that you had to deal with.”
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She said that she still sees her son ‘struggling everyday’. Talking about Siddharth – who got married in 2024 – Madhu added, “I see him struggling everyday and I feel that, okay god has blessed you, so just count your blessings, one by one and it will surprise you what the lord has done. I count my blessings everyday. I have two great kids, who love me, care for me.”
Earlier, on Dr Stuti Khare Shukla’s YouTube channel, Madhu had spoken about how she had a lot to deal with when Priyanka and Siddharth were growing up – Priyanka’s fledgling career, her medical practice and other household duties — but she always gave importance to quality time spent with her two children. “When I was with them, it was 100 percent children’s time. That was really good. I think that’s how they could imbibe the work ethics also, that you have to work hard if you want to achieve something and also give time to yourself, your family and your life,” she said.
Talking about how Priyanka and her brother are different, she said her daughter has imbibed the work ethic from her. “I am an early riser. I wake up at 5:30 am and I start my day. My son is not such an early riser but still he is up by 8:30 am. But Priyanka, depending on the kind of work she is doing, she will be up at 4 also if needed,” she said.
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While Siddharth lives in India with wife Neelam, Priyanka manages a global career. She lives with husband Nick Jonas and daughter Malti Marie in the US.
