Priyanka Chopra celebrates her birthday today. She was born on 18 July, 1982 in Jamshedpur to parents, Ashok Chopra and Madhu Akhauri, who are both doctors. She spent her childhood in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh and then moved to the United States where she grew up in Newton, Massachusetts and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Her father was in the army and thus her family moved quite frequently. Her father is from Punjab though had settled in Bareilly and her mother is from Jamshedpur. She also has a younger brother, Siddharth.
Priyanka studied at the famous La Martiniere Girls' School in Lucknow.
After moving to the United States, she studied in Newton South High School in Massachusetts and then in John F. Kennedy High School in Iowa. Soon Priyanka returned back to India and completed her schooling from Army School in Bareilly and then graduated from Jai Hind College in Mumbai.
Priyanka aimed to become a software engineer or a criminal psychologist but was egged on friends to take part in the Miss Bareilly contest, which she won. In 2000, Priyanka placed second at the Femina Miss India competition and was subsequently sent to the Miss World pageant where she was crowned Miss World 2000. By doing so, she became the fifth Indian woman to win the title, and the fourth Indian woman to win in a span of seven years.
Priyanka's big screen debut came in the 2002 Tamil film 'Thamizhan'.
In 2003, Priyanka made her Bollywood debut opposite Sunny Deol in 'The Hero: Love Story of a Spy'. The movie also starred Preity Zinta
In the same year, she teamed up with Akshay Kumar for the film 'Andaaz'. The movie also starred her fellow pageant contestant and winner Lara Dutta.
In 2004, Priyanka starred with Akshay and Salman Khan for the comedy flick 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi'. The movie was a success at the box office.
The actress teamed up again with Akshay Kumar and this time in a negative role in Abbas-Mustan's 'Aitraaz'. She was praised by the critics and also bagged the Filmfare award for Best Villain.
In 2005, the Akshay-Priyanka jodi continued their run and they starred in 'Waqt: A Race against Time'. It was during this time, that reports emerged that Akki's wife Twinkle was uncomfortable with the idea of them working together.
The same year saw Priyanka team up with Abhishek Bachchan for 'Bluffmaster' which was a huge success at the box office.
In 2006, she was paired with Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan for the superhero flick 'Krrish'
She was later seen with superstar SRK in the remake of 'Don', directed by Farhan Akhtar.
In 2007, Priyanka starred in the ensemble film 'Salaam-e-Ishq' which was directed by Nikhil Advani. She was cast opposite Salman Khan in the flick.
In 2008, Priyanka had a series of flops. The first among these was the sci-fi flick, 'Love Story 2050' opposite former beau Harman Baweja. The film was panned by critics and tanked at the box office.
The same year more disappointments came Priyanka's way. Her next film, 'God Tussi Great Ho' opposite Salman and Amitabh Bachchan also flopped.
Her disastrous run seemed to have no end. She starred in turkeys like 'Drona' and 'Chamku' that sank without a trace.
Priyanka finally broke her bad spell with Madhur Bhandarkar's film 'Fashion'. Her stellar performance gained her many accolades including the National award.
More success came Priyanka's way in 2008 with Karan Johar's production 'Dostana'. She starred opposite John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan and the movie was a huge success.
In 2009, Priyanka appeared in Vishal Bharadwaj's 'Kaminey' in which she was cast opposite Shahid Kapoor. She was also linked to Shahid who had recently split with long-time girlfriend Kareena Kapoor.
Her next two films 'Pyaar Impossible' and 'What's your Rashee' did not do well at the box office.
Priyanka was also cast opposite seven actors in Vishal Bharadwaj's 'Saat Khoon Maaf' where she played the role of Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes. Unfortunately, the movie also tanked
Besides the big screen, she was also seen on TV as host of the third season of the Colors' reality show 'Khatron Ke Khiladi'.
2012 started off with a bang for Priyanka who wowed us in Karan Johar's remake of 'Agneepath'. Her next release 'Teri Meri Kahaani' failed to wow audiences, even though it also starred her former flame Shahid Kapoor
Priyanka will next be seen in Anurag Basu's 'Barfi!' with Ranbir Kapoor and Ileana D'Cruz. She plays the role of a mentally challenged girl in the movie
Priyanka is also one of the few tech-savvy actresses in Bollywood. She has an active Twitter account and a huge follower base
She is very fond of her young cousin Parineeti, who has also followed in Priyanka's footsteps and is now a Bollywood actress herself
Priyanka is also a singer, who sang the song 'Ullathai Killadhe' for her very first film. She has now cut a deal with Universal Music and Desi Hits to release her first studio album
Here's wishing the gorgeous actress a very happy birthday!
