Priyanka Chopra, who will start shooting for her American TV show Quantico's season 2 in New York on 11 July, has only one film release up her sleeve at the moment – Baywatch, co-starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Zac Efron. Chopra plays a villain named Victoria Leeds in the movie.
Baywatch is an R-rated (Restricted – under-17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) comedy and is likely to face trouble with the Pahlaj Nihalani-headed Central Board of Film Certification when it comes up for release next year.
Several Hollywood films have faced trouble with the CBFC in the recent past. The release of The Nice Guys, starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, got delayed as the CBFC's examining committee rejected it for nudity, profanity, and violence. While James Bond found his kissing scene reduced to half its length in Spectre (2015), The Jungle Book received a U/A certificate, as the board felt some of the sequences were too scary for kids. There are more such examples.
At the celebration for the Maxim Hot 100 issue, Chopra was asked if she was worried about Baywatch landing in trouble with the CBFC. She said, "I'm not worried. But I will be very sad [if Baywatch gets censored]... Baywatch is an R-rated movie. It is a comedy which is like that, which is common news because Dwayne keeps writing about that. I don't know, but apparently the conversation is going on in a great way. It is a certification board and hopefully we get certified."
The actress also said major promotional activities were being planned in India, and the team of Baywatch will be visiting Mumbai for press events. "Baywatch will have a big Indian release. I intend to bring the entire cast here," she said.
Baywatch, directed by Seth Gordon, releases worldwide on 19 May 2017.
Watch Priyanka Chopra talk about Baywatch and more.