Pardes Magazine Feb, 2014 | Page 43

PARDES Bollywood Mirchi “hopes Priyanka Chopra will be Priyanka Kapoor soon,” to which Priyanka laughingly replied, “No Kapoor!” Asked about it later, Priyanka added a bit too emphatically, “There is no Kapoor coming into my life, please God!” Priyanka said she was excited to be back in Florida— her “favorite state in the whole U.S.”—though she spends most of her time in the States in Miami and was on her first visit to Tampa Bay. Calling herself a “total beach bum,” she expressed dismay at the clouds that hung over Tampa on Tuesday and hoped they’d lift so she could catch some rays before heading to New York. She also talked about her first experience with IIFA and hosting as the reigning Miss World in 2001. “The teleprompter froze,” she said. “And so did I.” Then new to the industry, she said she was dumbstruck by all of the stars in the audience whom she didn’t know were watching her get stage fright. These Images are taken Exclusively for Pardes Magazine By Shriyan Photography PARDESMAGAZINE.COM Pardes Magazine Owner with Anil Kapoor and Director of Wizcraft Viraf Sarkari And then breaking the ice was Preity Zinta, “a really awesome chick,” Priyanka said. “She said, ‘Oh, the teleprompter froze. She’ll be all right.’ ” “I was struck by this film fraternity where we all have each other’s backs,” Priyanka said. It still took eight years to overcome her stage fright from hosting,