Priyanka was born in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India to Ashok and Madhu Chopra, both doctors. She spent part of her childhood in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Her family frequently moved since her father was in the Army. She studied at La Martiniere Girls' College in Lucknow, as a young girl and later came to the United States, where she was an excellent student at Newton North High School, in Newton, Massachusetts and John F. Kennedy High School (Cedar Rapids) in Iowa. She finished 12th standard in Bareilly. She began college at Jai Hind College in Mumbai but left after winning the Miss World pageant.

She was first Miss India World and later Miss World in the year 2000 (the same year that Lara Dutta, who is also from India, won Miss Universe and Dia Mirza won Miss Asia Pacific).

When she clinched the Miss World crown, she became the fifth Indian woman to win the the title in just a span of seven years. Her win also allowed India to retain that title, with Yukta Mookhey having won the same national and international titles in the previous year.

After winning the Miss World title, Priyanka became an actress in Bollywood she first acted in Tamil film Thamizhan (2002) co starring with Vijay. She appeared in several successful films, such as Andaaz (2003), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Aitraaz (2004), Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005), Bluffmaster (2005), and recently in Krrish (2006).

--Wikipedia