Parineeti Chopra poses for a photograph.

Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra, who has been receiving a lot of positive response to her work in the recently released streaming series ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’, opened up on financial challenges during the initial phase of her career.

The actress said that she was asked by her advisors to hire a fitness expert and a nutritionist and pay them Rs 4 lakh a month to lose weight. This was something that she could not afford especially when she was paid Rs 5 lakh for her first film. Talking to Raj Shamani on his podcast, Parineeti said that she doesn’t come from a very rich background.

She said, “I’m actually a very simple, middle-class girl. I genuinely don’t understand Bollywood. I genuinely don’t know how people in Mumbai operate. I don’t have these high-flying friends.

I don’t have a trainer, stylist, everything already ready for me. And people who were already from here and already knew this world judged me a lot.” The actress then shared how she went up to a co-actor who “grew up in Mumbai” and in the world of films.

When she told him about financial challenges owing to high expenditure for a fitness expert and the nutritionist, her co-actor told her if she can’t afford them, she is not in the right profession. She said, “I was like, ‘I don’t have Rs 4 lakh a month to pay.

I don’t make that money.’ This is my third film,’ And I remember going up to a co-actor of mine who has definitely grown up in Bombay, in this world, and of course, comes from a place of privilege.’ He’s like, ‘Why aren’t you hiring these people?’ And I said, ‘Listen, but I really can’t afford it.’ I was paid Rs 5 lakh for my first film. He was like, ‘If you can’t afford it, then you shouldn’t be in this profession.’”

After obtaining a triple honours degree in business, finance and economics from Manchester Business School, Chopra returned to India during the 2009 economic recession and joined Yash Raj Films as a public relations consultant. Later, she signed a deal with the company as an actress.

She made her acting debut with the 2011 romantic comedy Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, winning the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, in addition to a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. She followed it by garnering acclaim for her starring roles in the box-office hits Ishaqzaade (2012), Shuddh Desi Romance (2013) and Hasee Toh Phasee (2014).

The first of these won her the National Film Award – Special Mention while the former two earned her nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. This success was followed by several poorly received films and a three-year hiatus.

Her only successful films since this period were the horror-comedy Golmaal Again (2017), which became her highest-grossing release; and the war drama Kesari (2019), in which she had a brief role. In 2021, Chopra earned critical praise for her leading roles in the black comedy Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar and the sports biopic Saina, earning her third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the former.

Agencies