Vocal Chops

The point and pointlessness of Priyanka Chopra’s singing debut

When I heard Priyanka Chopra’s singing debut was going to be made at this season’s NFL kick-off, I assumed the expression of a pug faced with a math problem. To quote PC’s oft-used Twitter exclamation: say whaaaaa?

How does a Bollywood actress get that gig? Alright, she’s a babe. And judging by that one Koffee With Karan episode where she serenaded Shahid Kapoor with a coy rendition of Mere khwabon mein jo aaye, she can sort of sing. But still. At the Mumbai launch of the single In My City, she tells the story of how it happened. She’d recorded a little playback for Pyaar Impossible with Salim-Suleiman, “just for fun”, then chickened out. Later, when Universal and Desi Hits were shopping for an Indian Shakira to launch into the global music scene, Salim suggested PC.

Priyanka is obviously marketable. It doesn’t hurt that she seems most at home in movies set in New York or Miami, and that she sounds like she has spent more time in Boston than Bombay, let alone Bareilly.

In four of her last ten films, PC has played the same NRI party girl-next-door. With her chatty, flirtatious manner, her bellybutton ring and newly acquired Daddy’s Lil Girl tattoo, she often seems like an extension of that character. Her pop-glam persona makes PC a perfect candidate for a cross-over star. It also often makes her a worse actress than she has the capacity to be.

The story of Priyanka’s career is great swathes of pretty mediocrity, interspersed with glimmers of real talent. Last Friday, there was a new redemption with the release of Barfi!, with which she  reminds us that she can, in fact, act. Why, then, does she covet the pedestal of an ethnic pop princess? Why is she waving pompoms and striking pseudo-glamorous poses on American television? And why are we so proud of it? Perhaps because we, like Shah Rukh Khan, are desperately excited at the prospect of “the first crossover star from India, our first creative export”.

Whether In My City will catapult her to global stardom is uncertain. It’s pretty unremarkable stadium pop, her debut song. But she seems determined to do it all—easy pop, cheesy romcoms and the toughest roles out there. I’m sceptical about whether such a stretch is possible. And yet here I am, watching.

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Devika Bakshi