Priyanka Chopra takes global stage, to unveil music single at American NFL

MUMBAI: The New York Giants, Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers may be rather strange company for a former Indian Miss World turned Bollywood star turned songstress-songwriter to keep.

But, come September 13, Priyanka Chopra will take a bow where no Indian actor or singer has taken one before - on the stage of the National Football League ( NFL), the world's biggest league for American football.

Chopra will be the featured artist on the Thursday Night Kickoff - the pre-game show for Thursday night football on the NFL Network, the league's TV sports channel. The star, who has the same manager as pop singer Lady Gaga, will unveil her first music single, 'In My City,' featuring rapper will.i.am, as the theme for the intro for Thursday Night Kickoff.

In the 2011 season, Thursday night football averaged a record 6.2 million viewers, according Anjula Acharia-Bath, co-founder of DesiHits.com, which had signed up Chopra as a recording artist in its first-ever global deal a year ago.

Although the full song and video for 'In My City' are expected to be ready later in the year, two weeks ago Chopra shot a spot that will air every week before and after the Thursday Night Kickoff. The league begins with the 185th meeting between Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers.

With a bagful of brand endorsements -- from Nokia and Samsung to Hero MotoCorp and Garnier - the second-highest number of followers on Twitter for a Bollywood star (after Amitabh Bachchan) and a website that claims over a lakh registered users, the Chopra phenomenon has well and truly arrived on home ground.

As far as international brands getting hitched onto the PC bandwagon, Vinita Bangard, CEO, Krossover Entertainment who manages Chorpa's endorsements says here has been interest from FMCG, cosmetic, technology, food and beverage brands but names and deals cannot be shared for now.


Now, as Acharia-Bath points out, Chopra is ready to take on the world - with American label Interscope Records, artist management firm Atom Factory and Creative Artists Agency, Hollywood's leading talent outfit, in tow.

Says Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan: "Priyanka has the capacity and talent to become the first crossover star from India, our first creative export. She has a super team backing her and she is truly an international brand and will make India very proud."

"Priyanka is a triple treat. She can sing, dance and act, which is rare amongst artists. She will be the first bonafide pop artist to come directly out of India," says Atom Factory CEO Troy Carter.

Carter should know-besides managing pop culture icon Lady Gaga, he has built a reputation for promoting emerging talent.

Chopra is feeling the weight of expectations-and perhaps as nervous as when she slept with her Miss World crown in her room in London, worried that someone may steal it away. She was just 17 then.

Today, at 30, she says: Unless you give it a shot, no one will ever know, and I am not the kind of person who would like to live saying 'what if'," says Chopra, in a chat with this writer in her Mercedes en route from Film City to Mehboob Studios in suburban Mumbai.

"The sense of belief in me from everyone around is incredible so I better deliver," she adds.