Actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas co-hosted a pre-Oscars event in Beverly Hills, California, celebrating South Asian excellence in cinema ahead of the main Academy Awards event on March 28. She was joined at the event by her peers, Mindy Kaling, Kumail Nanjiani, Bela Bajaria, Maneesh K. Goyal and Shruti Ganguly. Priyanka, who recently welcomed her first child with her husband Nick Jonas via surrogacy, looked glamorous in a black saree paired with a strapless blouse for the event.
The actress took to Instagram to share a series of photos from the event, which marked her first public appearance after welcoming her baby. Posting the photos, Priyanka wrote, “What a special honor it was to cohost a pre-oscar celebration honoring this year’s 10 South Asian Oscar nominees, and the friends, family, and colleagues who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make all of this possible. Last night gave me all the feels, and filled me with so much pride for how far our community has come. The future of entertainment is looking bright. Special thanks to @anjula_acharia and @maneeshkgoyal for having this idea and the cohosts who came together to make an unprecedented evening like this possible. Wishing the nominees so much luck on Sunday! Bring home the gold!”
Motivational speaker Jay Shetty shared a video of Priyanka’s speech on Instagram. The actress spoke about her beginnings in Hollywood a decade back and recalled an incident with actor Aziz Ansari at a party. “When I came here 10 years ago and started looking for work in America, I remember I was at a Golden Globes party and Aziz Ansari and I met at an after-party and it was just him and I and we wanted to count how many brown people were in the room and it was just us. And you know it was great, we congratulated each other, encouraged each other and we went out and met everyone else,” Priyanka said in her speech.
She further said, “But today, I am not someone else. Today, I stand amongst peers, amongst colleagues, amongst South Asian excellence. I have goosebumps, I am emotional, it makes me very proud.”
