On reading 'Unfinished'

 I'm not one who normally reads celebrity memoirs, and I must admit, I had harboured certain prejudices about this book being possibly frivolous even as I picked it up. I am not a die-hard fan of Priyanka Chopra either, but her recent films and interviews had really piqued my interest, for here was a true go-getter, a terrific actor who had dabbled in music, humanitarian causes, established a career abroad, and produced films that won National Awards. Her sheer level of achievement, and the emphasis she gave to her family in her interviews as being a constant pillar of support, was what made me pick it up. I initially expected to breeze through it quickly and get on with better books, but I was in for a surprise. Though I didn't like the Preface, the rest of the book, with abundant helpings of childhood memories spent in India and abroad, her parents and extended family being supportive and encouraging always, and the strange twists of fate that launched her unconventional career, came across as genuine and touching. Especially the portions where she recounts the days of her father's debilitating health and the vulnerability that is exposed in the ensuing years when she struggled with grief and relationships. The final few chapters, focusing on her relationship with Nick Jonas, also made me realize that we tend to be too hastily judgemental of celebrities, especially regarding their romantic entanglements. I remember many had incessantly trolled the couple in the initial days of the news, but they all seem to have disappeared. Even in their interviews together, they seem to be respectful and proud of each other. Maybe this wasn't a frivolous affair after all, because they really seem to have hit it off.

 Priyanka uses conversational language to express all these experiences from her eventful life, and the part I was most in awe of is how her parents always regarded her as an individual with her own valid needs and dreams (especially the nameplate outside their home, seemingly silly but indicative of something so important). To read those parts felt so refreshing, and I couldn't help wondering how many more children in the world would have similarly achieved their goals if only their parents had championed them so. Her humanitarian concerns, which took root from a young age, and recollections of working with the UNICEF also came across as the words of a person who genuinely cares about helping children all over the world. Her life and achievements so far are quite something. 

One quibble I heard from other readers is that she sometimes comes across as pretentious and that the book doesn't talk much about her film career. I didn't find that a disadvantage; it was probably a conscious decision since that is the part of her life that has always been in the limelight and about which enough is available on the internet anyway. She does briefly speak about the obstacles and distasteful experiences she had to face in her initial days in the Hindi film industry, and her struggle of beginning afresh in Hollywood, but for the rest, I guess we will never know, and that's fine. As she herself has admitted, people only think they know her well, since she has been careful to guard her private life through the years of being in the public eye. Perhaps the fact that I was looking forward only to the childhood and parenting bits is why I wasn't disappointed by its lack of focus on other parts of her life. 

So, in conclusion, maybe the book is just another achievement off her checklist, maybe it's just great PR for her career taking off in the West, maybe it has been carefully curated to give a certain impression of a global outlook that she has grown up with, to show that she belongs in the space she is now, straddling careers across continents (especially to her new Western audiences). Whatever her motives may be, you can't deny that she is an ambitious actor who constantly pushes the envelope, a driven hard-working person who achieves her dreams, who has wonderful parents who knew what they were doing. (I mention all this not as blind praise but respect that anyone with "normal" ambitions may feel while reading about her life.) I shall end this post with a quote towards the middle of the book -"We can't choose the family we're born into, but we can choose our actions. We all want to take care of the people who we are closest to us, those sitting at our table. But is there a world in which those who are blessed with more might build a larger table than building a higher fence?"