Meet Anjula Acharia, the entrepreneur behind Priyanka Chopra's Hollywood breakthrough

After two decades in films, Priyanka Chopra is one of the highest-paid celebrities in India. Time magazine named Priyanka among the 100 most influential people in the world. Some years ago, it would have been hard to imagine an Indian actor making it this far in the US market. But how much do you know about Anjula Acharia, who has been guiding Priyanka to resounding success ever since the Miss-World-2000-turned-actor moved to Hollywood a decade ago? Also read: Priyanka Chopra's manager was told by 'prominent' Bollywood people 'you're wasting your time'

Who is Anjula Acharia?

Her LinkedIn bio says Anjula is an 'entrepreneur, philanthropist, pop culture enthusiast, angel investor/advisor and was recently named on Billboard’s International Power Players List'. Anjula advises an array of companies in the consumer internet space and is currently working with the following companies as an advisor and/or an early stage investor – Bumble, Hooked, Bulletproof Coffee, Mayvenn, Gobble, Foundermade, Cue, Yumi, HealthAid Kombucha, Skinny Dipped, Joro app. Anjula joined BuzzFeed’s board of directors in 2021.

As per a CNN report, Anjula, who is married to entrepreneur Ranj Bath, is an investor at Trinity Ventures and has personally invested in startups like Class Pass and The Muse. She's also a serial investor and entrepreneur under her company A-Series Investments, where she helps bridge the gap between tech and Hollywood. Her other notable angel investments include Joro App, Yumi, Vital Proteins, Bulletproof, Health-Ade Kombucha and Pop and Bottle, among many more.

In 2007, Anjula co-founded her first start-up, Desi Hits, a platform for east-meets-west pop culture. She was instrumental in introducing artists such as Britney Spears and Lady Gaga to India. However, Anjula is best known for being Priyanka Chopra's longtime manager.

How did Anjula Acharia meet Priyanka?

Founding Desi Hits was the seed that led Anjula to bring Priyanka to the American market. After watching Priyanka in a music video, Anjula knew that Priyanka had to make her debut in the US music scene. In a 2018 interview with Quartz, Anjula said, “She (Priyanka) was filming 7 Khoon Maaf and I am not sure if she took my first call seriously… I had to stalk her for months because she would not take my call. I love to tease her about it now, but she really made it hard.”

After Priyanka released a few songs such as In My City and Exotic in the early 2010s, her music career wasn't taking off, so Anjula decided to pivot to TV and utilise Priyanka's years' worth of acting experience. “You were seeing Sofia Vergara, Viola Davis and Kerry Washington take on leading roles. Television was becoming more inclusive, so I went to them and said your next thing will be to put a South Asian woman [on air]," Anjula told Vogue in a 2018 interview.

Priyanka Chopra's business empire

Anjula Acharia, apart from managing Priyanka Chopra's career in films, TV and OTT – Quantico (2015), Baywatch (2017), The Matrix Resurrections (2021) and Citadel (2023), among others – has made sure the actor stays on top of her investment portfolio. According to reports, most of Priyanka's earnings come from brand endorsements for Max Factor, Crocs, Bumble (Priyanka also invested in the dating app back in 2018) and Bulgari, to name a few.

Priyanka Chopra has a net worth of around US $75 million (Approximately ?620 crore), as per a 2023 report by Lifestyleasia.com. She reportedly charges $1,33,862.08 (approximately ?12 crore) per movie. In Hollywood, she charges $2,43,437 (approximately ?2 crore) per episode, when working on a show. Her monthly salary is approximately US $1,82,569.95 (approximately ?1.5 crore) and her yearly income sums up to $21,90,839.40 (approximately ?18 crore), as per the portal. Priyanka reportedly charges $3,65,201.61 (approximately ?3 crore) per Instagram post.

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