At Fame Adlabs on Wednesday afternoon when Priyanka Chopra walked the ramp for the last time in Fashion she got a standing ovation.
And the one to get the most emotionally moved was her dad.
Watching Priyanka Chopra play the small-town girl who leaves home to become a model in the metropolis was a deeply emotional experience for Dr Ashok Chopra.
Says the emotional daughter, "He just broke down. Watching my character Meghna in Fashion he saw his little girl from Jamshedpur going all the way to Mumbai to become Miss World.
In fact his sense of identification with that whole portion in Chandigarh where I'm this plump Punjabi girl leading a sheltered life with her parents, was very deep, " says Priyanka from Dubai where she attended the Fashion premiere on Thursday night.
"I identified deeply with those scenes where my character is trying to find her way in Mumbai. The only difference is my my character Meghna knows exactly where she was going. I had no clue.
Also, my dad never stopped me from pursuing my dreams. He was concerned yes. But never disapproving like Meghna's father. In fact my dad moved to Mumbai to be with me when I decided to move to Mumbai."
Days after the film's release there's a sense of outrage about the fashion industry being shown as a place of constant undercutting and heartbreak.
Protests Priyanka, "It's like that in any competitive field. We slogged hard on the research. Madhur and I gave our life and blood to the film. I was in discussions over the script with Madhur for five months before I said yes to Fashion."
Priyanka wore a short dress a Gavin Miguel for the Dubai festival.
Some cast members of Do Knot Disturb who were shooting in Dubai came for the premiere.
Says Priyanka, "We had David Dhawan, Lara Dutt and Riteish who were shooting in Dubai. Then we had the royalty from Dubai. Earlier we had a special screening of Fashion for the modeling world in Mumbai.
I had a ball catching up with the old times, screaming and shouting. The best thing is that the fashion industry supported us in such a big way. But people from the fashion industry love Fashion.
We've definitely taken real-life incidents from the ramp. Even the wardrobe malfunction scene is so poignant. The designers, models, choreographers…they were all supportive."
Carol Gracias whose wardrobe malfunction scene has been taken in Fashion, saw the film.
"She loved the film. Carol thought it's very classily done, " says Priyanka. "The coolest thing is that my film has taken an initial opening on the basis of one heroine's presence (me). That surprises me because that goes against the rules of the film industry."
