'I had planned my life at 16'

She's smart, beautiful and diplomatic to boot. In short, Priyanka Chopra has everything that can help her succeed in Bollywood. She's known to be extremely professional and sweet. Despite her phenomenal success, Piggy Chops, as she is affectionately called, wears a strong head on her shoulders. She's a small town girl and proud of the fact.

As she readies for the release of her magnum opus "Love Story 2050", we catch up with the pretty Miss India-turned-Miss World-turned-actress for a tête-à-tête on her life before fame.

Excerpts:

So may we refer to you as Ms Piggy Chops?

Noooo...I will have to speak to Abhishek Bachchan about that. He used to call me Piggy Chops on the sets of "Bluffmaster". And the name's stuck. I can't do anything about it. It's annoying!

So what is acting to you?

Something I love to do. I don't think I can do anything else or anything better. Because when I was 17 I was picked up from school and dropped into showbiz. And after that, all I have learnt is here. I love what I do. For me acting is like breathing.

There are very few people in this world who make a career out of their hobby or passion. So I consider myself very lucky to be one of those people.

Did you join the film industry by chance? Or was it a planned decision?

It was by chance. I was studying to be an engineer. And I never had thought or dreamed that I would end up being an actress. At that time, I didn't even have any inclination towards showbiz.

Didn't you ever think of being a model? You did have the right attributes for it.

Not really. When you come from a middle-class background, you don't think this way. I had never been to Mumbai before the Miss India pageant. I studied in the United States for some time. I was in high school there. I had always thought I would go to college. I worked hard for my scholarship. It was engineering in aeronautics that I wanted and I had planned it all that way. It's funny how I had planned my life by 16. It just didn't end up being that way.

At 16? Wasn't that a little too young to know what you want from life?

At 16, I had known I had to finish my high school and then apply to various colleges in the United States. Then my mom came to visit me and I met her after some two years. I felt so homesick that I decided to return home. So I came back to Bareilly where my parents lived.

From US to Bareilly? Quite a difference wasn't it?

I had initially come back for just a year. I thought I would finish my high school and then take some time off to decide what I wanted to do. In this time, my mom and my brother got this idea of sending my entry for the Miss India pageant. I had clicked some pictures for my scholarship forms and they sent those photos with the Miss India entry form. I had a salwa-kameez on and my hair was tied up!

Did you also wear spectacles? That would make a good ugly ducking-turned-swan story...

(Laughs) No, I didn't. It wasn't a film! But the pictures had me looking very serious. I was trying to look really professional and my mom sent those pictures. One day I returned from my math tuitions and got a call that in five days at this hotel at 8 in the morning, I had an audition to attend. I was not supposed to wear makeup or high heeled shoes.

I wondered how Femina had my details and then my mother admitted she'd sent the entry. She said there was no harm in trying my luck.

But I was a little apprehensive about telling my father about the pageant. He said you think of it as a vacation, then come back and finish your education. I never did think I would win. The plan was 30-day vacation for me and my mom in Bombay. My aunt was here and we came to meet her. At that time, everything was a vacation for me. I even went to the US on a holiday and my school counsellor made me take an IQ test and then told me I could get sponsorship if I stayed back.

So you must have scored very well...

Fairly well I should say. My mom asked me if I wanted to stay back and I said I did. My aunt was there so I thought I'll spend some time there. My parents left the decision to me and told me I would have to face the consequences of my decisions. I have always stood by my decisions and haven't regretted any of them yet.