Priyanka Chopra-Jonas slams racist comments against Ramin Bahrani

Actor Priyanka Chopra-Jonas came out in support of Oscar nominated writer-director Ramin Bahrani, who recently faced a verbal racist attack on the streets of Atlanta.

The incident happened while Bahrani, who earned a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for The White Tiger at the upcoming Oscars and the BAFTAs, was doing an interview with producer Ava DuVernay when a man passed a racist comment telling him to “go back to his country”. For the uninitiated, the filmmaker was born and brought up in North Carolina, USA.

Chopra-Jonas, who plays the role of Pinky in The White Tiger and is also the movie’s producer, came out in support of Bahrani. “Asking me about my thoughts on what happened to Ramin is a sign of where we stand today, and the work we have to continue to do. So, my question in response is - who belongs here, and who doesn’t? Isn’t America a melting pot of all people from all backgrounds? This country was built on the back of immigrants in search of the American dream, a life of freedom, opportunity, and a safe place not only for themselves but for their families,” said Chopra-Jonas.

The actor further added that the “content by Hollywood is embraced by the world, but the world is not always embraced by Hollywood”. “Hollywood and pop culture, in general, have a massive responsibility in this fight for racial equality and representation in global entertainment,” she observed.

The racist incident had left DuVernay appalled and she advised Bahrani to address this issue to highlight the underlying racism still prevalent in the US.

Recalling the racist attack in an interview with People magazine, the filmmaker said, “I was in Atlanta on location in a residential neighbourhood directing a TV pilot for Apple. We had worked late that day, so I had to do my Zoom interview with Ava on my phone while we were still in the street. During the interview, I noticed a car parked behind me. When the driver saw me and my colleague (who is South Asian), he said, ‘You all think you run the world. You all don’t run s---’. His friend told him to calm down and leave it alone. As the driver pulled away, he shouted, ‘Go back to your own country!’”