MUMBAI: Yesterday morning, Priyanka Chopra’s father, Dr. Ashok Chopra succumbed to cancer at a suburban hospital in the city. Later in the day, the entire film fraternity rallied around the broken star, and offered her their heartfelt condolences.
Dr. Chopra had been fighting a prolonged battle with the disease since 2005, and was constantly in and out of hospital. Priyanka and her family had always stood like a rock by his side, with the former even cancelling all her work commitments for the last few weeks to be by her ailing father’s side. She had even conducted a 6-hour long pooja over the weekend.
Priyanka was reportedly closest to her dad, and many fondly refer to the actress as Daddy’s little girl, owing also to the tattoo she sports on her wrist, out of enormous affection for her brave, army-retired father.
The last rites of Dr. Chopra were performed by Priyanka’s brother Siddharth Chopra, in accordance with Hindu tradition, between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. yesterday. Many Bollywood personalities rushed to Priyanka’s side, and were seen consoling her during the cremation.
Shah Rukh Khan was seen standing resolutely by Priyanka’s side throughout, consoling the actress’ family. Priyanka’s cousin Parineeti too did not leave her side throughout. Filmmaker Karan Johar, her ‘Barfi!’ co-star Ranbir Kapoor, and Deepika Padukone were also seen at the sombre occasion.
