Actor Meera Chopra discussed the challenges faced by people in her line of work in the film industry. In a recent interview, Meera, who is Priyanka Chopra‘s cousin, described herself as an ‘outsider’ and stated that her career would be in a different place if she had any assistance from those in the industry. In addition, she talked about the commercialization of Indian film festivals and mentioned how difficult it would be for her to convince designers to give her free clothing to wear on red carpets.
During an interview with the Hitflik YouTube channel, she shared that there is a significant corruption problem in the country that adversely affects genuine talent. Despite having prestigious events such as IFFI and MAMI, many films are being accepted at IFFI through questionable means, often referred to as ‘jugaad.’ It is essential to eliminate these practices and prioritize authentic talent. When individuals attempt to promote their lesser-quality projects in festivals through unfair methods, it undermines the integrity of those festivals.
Meera further added that even the National Film Awards are ‘losing their mojo’. “We used to look up to National Awards even six-seven years back, but now you see mediocre films being awarded. I think people need to take it more seriously,” she said. She did, however, discuss her experience attending the renowned Cannes Film Festival, even though her film was not included in the official selection when she made her remarks about film festivals serving as platforms for self-promotion.
She further added, “I was more concerned about which designer’s clothes I’ll be wearing, where my jewellery and clothes were coming in from… In India, they’ve made such a huge deal of who’s wearing what at these international events. I was not getting the great designers I wanted, because all the great designers were sourcing clothes for A-listers. They would unabashedly tell my stylist that they would only give their clothes to A-listers.”
Meera accused the media of prioritizing clothing over movies. She stated, “When I went, people were only talking about the actors and what they were wearing, they weren’t talking about the films that were nominated. How shallow and foolish is that? I have a genuine problem with that.”
On the work front, Meera Chopra made her Bollywood debut with Vikram Bhatt’s ‘1920 London’ in 2016, co-starring Sharman Joshi. The actress also appeared in Satish Kaushik’s 2014 directorial venture, Gang of Ghosts, along with Section 375 (2019) and Safed (2023).
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