Priyanka Chopra’s Gyaan on Ambition for Women Is So 2016

The actor gave quite a lot of thaka hua gyaan on feminism at the Penguin Annual Lecture 2017.

(Photo: Liju Joseph/The Quint)

“Ladies, there’s nothing wrong in being ambitious”: Priyanka Chopra at the Penguin Annual Lecture 2017.

Such a quotable line. Headline-worthy stuff. Full of attitude.

If only it weren’t so 2016. In fact, far from being revolutionary, it was actually pretty thaka hua gyaan on feminism, a mere Pinterest quote in an age of sharp feminist discourse.

Yes, sure, we’d love to be ambitious. Who wants to be a low-paid worker? But maybe Priyanka Chopra, who is one of 2017’s 100 Most Powerful Women in the World, could have offered fellow desi women some more detailed advice on HOW TO fulfill that ambition in that much discussed Penguin lecture. By giving more useful, personal insights from her incredible journey from small town Bareilly to Hollywood. I was all ready to prepare notes, pen and paper in hand. But boy, was I unprepared for the disappointment that was to follow!

To be fair, her 12-point-guide on how to be Priyanka Chopra (ignore the directness of the pitch) did include some bits on giving wings to your dreams and exploring new opportunities. But it failed to mention the fact that more often than not, women AREN’T given those opportunities, at home or in the workplace, and quite frankly, often times the only wings they are ‘allowed’ are the ones on their pads – and sometimes not even then, if GST has anything to do with it.

High Expectations. Much Contempt. Did PeeCee Deliver?

So, did Priyanka do justice to the prestigious platform she got at the Penguin Annual Lecture; that holy mecca apparently permitted only for thinkers, leaders and writers, that many thekedaars of thought feared would get sullied if a commercial female Bollywood actor enter it?

Female actor, I emphasise. Because there wasn’t half as much furore when another Bollywood actor, Amitabh Bachchan, delivered it in 2013. Could it be because there’s an implicit value judgment when we assume a female actor wouldn’t have anything intellectual to say? Never mind that in 2017, LSE had invited Angelina Jolie to host her first lecture at the prestigious university.

But I digress.

Can’t Break the Glass Ceiling With Hard Work Alone, PeeCee

Glass ceilings can’t be shattered with high heels and hard work, as much as magazines and Priyanka Chopra would have us believe. Because all of us don’t get the same opportunities. Some from our tribe are more privileged than others.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the “hard’’ in ‘hard work’ comes from working class women. But sometimes, even all that hard work isn’t enough when faced with sky-high barriers and the prejudice women have to face while in their pursuit of success.

But while the theory of gender and power is important to understand how we can actually get ahead, practical examples of accomplished women become as important for many of us to look up to.

Hearing affirmative words from a successful woman like Priyanka Chopra could be an insulin shot for so many talented women who suffer from low self-confidence. And for many of us present at the hall, it was electrifying to see a female actor pretty much own the packed auditorium.

Padmavati and No Headlines?

To be fair, the actor did touch upon Padmavati when asked by NDTV’s Sonia Singh. She did say she stands by Deepika and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. But before criticising her on why she didn’t offer anything more substantial, let’s take a look at who else didn’t offer their opinions on the matter.

Big B, the man who wields much more influence than Priyanka, has maintained a stoic silence on the Padmavati controversy. Even the muscled and masculine Salman Khan hasn’t had the gumption to take the Karni Sena head on.

Not saying we should award the biggest wimps a Bollywoodesque award, but at least we can cut her some slack when some of the most powerful voices of Bollywood have dodged the biggest question of 2017.

Talking #MeToo and Taking No Names? Huh?

Uhh, she claimed to be all powerful, but what kind of powerful woman doesn’t name men when talking about sexual harassment prevalent in their industry? Well, the kind that is still trapped in an industry where the power structure is still overwhelmingly male.

In the US, it took damning reports by The New York Times for Harvey Weinstein and Louis CK to finally be exposed, which gave many powerful women, who had been suffering for years in silence, the space and time to finally come out and talk about their horrible experiences. Considering that these powerful men can sue the hell out of you and destroy careers if you name them without substantiating your allegations, it’s only fair that even powerful women exercise caution in these matters. Ironic, considering in the speech before the chat where this question was raised, Priyanka had said that women shouldn't have to just survive but should get the chance to thrive instead.

The Final Verdict

It’s unfortunate that even though she said much, Priyanka Chopra left much unsaid, and hardly added anything new to the conversation. Even though the historic moment of Penguin Random House inviting a female speaker for their annual lecture for the first time in India achieved much in terms of virality – its videos have crossed 2.5 million views in 2 days thanks to Priyanka’s name and sass – it came across as pathetically low on substance.