Priyanka Chopra to play Punjabi woman in Hollywood rom-com with Mindy Kaling

Priyanka Chopra's next Hollywood romantic comedy will see her playing a Punjabi woman. Priyanka will star alongside Mindy Kaling in the film, which will mark their first collaboration together. Mindy, who has also co-written the film, spoke about the project and her and Priyanka's role in a new interview. 

Priyanka and Mindy will play cousins in the romantic comedy, which will revolve around a big fat Indian wedding. Mindy will play an Indian-American, while Priyanka will play her first cousin, who was born and raised in India. Mindy Kaling recently revealed that she and Priyanka's characters will also be hailing from different cultures in India.

In a recent interview with Forbes, Mindy discussed the 'diverse representation of the Asian experience in her projects,' and said, "We're really proud of it, we show South Asian Americans that are from Southern Indian. Then we show a Muslim Indian girl. Culturally we see how they're different from each other. The Asian experience is not a monolith. Why would people necessarily know that if they don't have shows that explain and explore that difference?"

She added, "I have this movie with Priyanka Chopra, she's Punjabi Indian from India and I'm an Indian American Bengali girl form the East Coast. It's so different and that's what makes our dynamic so fun together."

In a previous interview with FirstPost in May 2020, Mindy had said that Priyanka and her love of India have also influenced how she is writing their movie together. She had said, "What's so fun about writing that movie is playing with the expectations that Indians and Indian Americans have of each other. I've learned so much from Priyanka and her love of India. It's enhanced my own love and understanding of India."

Priyanka was recently shooting for her Amazon Prime Video web series Citadel. She will also be seen in Farhan Akhtar's Jee Le Zaraa alongside Alia Bhatt and Katrina Kaif.