MUMBAI: With her first National Award for Best Actress for Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion, Priyanka Chopra joins the ranks of esteemed actresses’ like Shabana Azmi and Tabu. Speaking animatedly from New York, where she’s shooting for Sajid Nadiadwala’s Anjaana Anjaani, PC said, “I’m thrilled that I’ve won a National Award so early in my career.

Yes, in her nine years in Bollywood, Priyanka has already notched up some truly remarkable work in films like Fashion and Kaminey. “Fashion is a special film to me. When Madhur narrated the script to me, I knew Meghna Mathur (my character) would leave her mark. While I picked up many awards for this performance including the Filmfare trophy, the National Award came as a natural culmination for a role I truly believed in. I’m grateful to Madhur for his faith in me.

Admitting that her choice of films has sometimes gone awry, the actress is nevertheless determined to continue the act of balancing meaningful cinema with masala fare. “Fashion was there competing with the best of regional cinema; and then to have still bagged an honour is something that gives me a terrific high. I’m on cloud nine,” she said and added, “I’m happy for my co-actor Kangna Ranaut without who this character wouldn’t be as effective as it was. Congratulations to her also.