You are known by your last failure: Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra talks about terrorism, why feminism needs educated men, Salman Khan and more.

Priyanka Chopra certainly needs no introduction, keeping her current professional graph in mind. Returning to her home ground, the actress was in the capital flaunting yet another colourful feather from her myriad multi-national and multi-faceted cap — she spoke to win not just hearts but to ignite the minds of adolescent school children with her worldview, vision, experience and expectations as the Unicef Goodwill Ambassador at their #FairStart campaign.

Success and failure “Success,” she says, “is not a destination but a journey. Yes, I am a superstar today. But I am still struggling. Struggles don’t end when you have become successful. You are known by your last failure and that will happen to every single person. You just need to strive for excellence every single day of your life. There is no substitute for hard work for anybody. Everyone is dispensable.”

She continues, “The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure. Never be afraid to fall and fail.”

Violence and religion The actress, who is also a globetrotter, feels pained at the violence and acts of terrorism taking place in different parts of the world. PC, who was recently spotted spending some quality time with her mother in Paris, reflected on global terrorism, and rued, “I believe in humanity. I also always believe in the fact that irrespective of where we are living at this present moment, we are going through a violent turmoil. Violence seems to have become our everyday reality. And sadly we have become desensitised to it. Every day we read and hear about deaths of hundreds of people around the globe but what do we do Turn a blind eye Why are we fighting anyway... for what reason Your God is better than mine Who has seen God How can we be creating such disparities based on faith Everyone has the right to have his or her own, right It is just sad.”

Movies and social messages Issue-based movies and their makers have got flak from the Censor Board in recent times. Talking about the moral element in the cinematic medium making a valuable impact on the populace, the actress points out, “Firstly, cinema is a main source of entertainment, and it would be wrong to mix up social issues with entertainment. Cinema is nothing but a mode of storytelling, just like books. In both the media, it’s up to the author or filmmaker to talk, write and showcase a social issue or stick to the parameters of entertainment. I don’t think we need to put the sole responsibility of changing society on the entertainment industry. It’s the job of the government. Celebrities and public figures (not just actors), on the other hand, should always be bound by social responsibilities. Whereas, cinema can, may, should, maybe or maybe not carry a moral message.”

Salman Khan Continuing with her views on how celebrities should be among the prime representatives of socially/morally responsible citizens through their deeds as well as public conduct, PC said she doesn’t agree with Salman Khan, even though he might have said (the rape remark) it jokingly. Chopra says, “First of all, it was not a joke. I have spoken about it quite a lot in the past few days but sadly what I have not been able to understand is why we are paying attention to it at all. It’s been more than 20 days now. Don’t we have better things to focus on In terms of having a social responsibility on a public platform, I feel it’s to each his own. Sharing or owning responsibility is individualistic. Tomorrow, I can’t turn around and dictate my fans to donate 15 per cent of their salaries towards a cause, can I No, right It is all about your individual choice, one can choose to speak about things that matter to one and the manner in which one speaks about it depends entirely on one as an individual. One chooses to select topics to debate, uses one’s voice towards a cause and so on and so forth. But if someone else doesn’t share that viewpoint, then it is his or her personal choice. We can’t blame them. We are in a land of freedom. We are in a democracy. The best we can do is save our time by choosing not to focus on the thing that doesn’t matter to us. I don’t want to add to the clutter and would rather talk about important issues.” Feminism and Gender disparity “Feminism just needs two things,” says the actress. “Women joining hands to help one another instead of pulling each other down. Secondly, it needs men. Good, educated and conscious men who understand the need to have equal rights, equal participation in an equal social structure. Actually, the problem lies in our mentality/ mindset, it is in-built. India is a difficult country and we have been following practices that preach ladke zaruri hai, ladkiya nahi. Men alone can’t take your bloodline forward. Mothers can bring about a huge change too, by educating their sons. As much as we desperately need a drive to empower our women, we also should strive to empower our men by making them understand the value of a woman in a social structure,” she shares.