RB: What is your love language?
PC: “Everybody’s love language is different. My love language is sitting in pyjamas at home and having a real conversation, rather than fawning over a crazy, big gesture. For others, it may be receiving flowers or getting a surprise gift every day…”

RB: What is the best relationship advice you have ever received?
PC: “I don’t take relationship advice from anybody. And this is not because I’m arrogant; I just feel nobody can give you relationship advice other than, maybe, your parents or people who know you very well. Most often, people offer advice from their own point of view, so it can’t be tailor-made to the receiver.
RB: What have you learnt from your own relationship?
PC: “I believe in being ‘real’ from day one. Don’t create a honeymoon phase that fades out; try and be real from the start because then you will very quickly know whether the relationship will last your whole life or not. Usually, couples behave their best or let go of things in the first few months of the relationship. But human beings tend to tire out very quickly. And when they do, the honeymoon phase ends and that’s when things start getting real. The partners start accusing each other about how they have changed, but they have not really changed; they have just come back to who they always were. Just be real; it saves everybody time. When I see couples around me saying things like, ‘Oh, it’s too early to discuss marriage’, I don’t understand it because what do you mean by ‘too early’? That means you are afraid
of saying everything that’s on your mind because the other person is new in your life. If you want to discuss marriage, kids, health histories, or whatever else, do it on day one, because that’s when both of you will be able to decide whether you are right for each other.”

RB: What are your views, Parineeti, on the pressure that girls face for getting married at a certain age?
PC: “I have been blessed with the best family—they have never put pressure on me to get married. In fact, my parents wanted us to be so ambitious…even if I was in the best phase of my career, my parents would tell me to keep going, to aim for more. They’re amazing! They have always wanted my siblings and me to do well, make our careers, be financially secure, be happy, become more settled adults, and then find somebody…because that is when you can create a truly beautiful relationship your partner.”
RB: Do you think an ambitious woman needs a supportive partner to help her succeed?
PC: “Oh, absolutely! I find it ridiculous when people tell their partners how to live their life. That’s just not how it should be. A relationship is about two people falling in love with each other, and deciding to continue living their lives. How can anyone dictate what a person should do? You’ve decided to walk together; that’s it. Whether the girl is ambitious or not, that should be her personal decision.”

RB: How, according to you, can couples keep the romance alive in a long-term relationship?
PC: “There are two ways to look at this. When you get married, your lives tend to get entwined with your partner’s life and family, and that kind of changes things a bit. My advice is to keep dating. Even after you get married, you must continue your dating life, whatever the nature of that is. If you used to go on romantic dinners, please continue. If you enjoy going on holidays, do that. Don’t let marriage change the nature of your dating life, because that’s what kept you the happiest. Usually, people get complacent after marriage and that is when the problems start. Even if marriage is not involved, you need to not take each other for granted because that is when the romance dies. I’d say, keep surprising each other in any way. It could be in tangible, intangible, or emotional forms… keep making the other person happy. The romance will, then, never die because the love has not died.”
RB: For women, the biological clock often overlaps with her career goals. How can a work-life balance be achieved?
PC: “By choosing the right life partner to stand next to you. There’s just no other way. If you’re single, it’s a whole other game. Look, most women are going to produce children in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, and that will also be the peak of their working life. Becoming a mother is the biological gift we have been given. We just have to take it in our stride. If you want to have children, you may have to work harder in that decade, but what completely changes the game is if you have the right person and your family by your side. It’s great if you can start a career early, and take some time off to be with
your children. But if you can’t take the time off, you will need to juggle the responsibilities with your partner… honestly, there is no exact answer for this.”
RB: And how do you bring that balance with your partner?
PC: “I think its harder for ambitious women to find men who are strong-minded or equally ambitious. It’s very sad that some men believe that only they can be the bread winner of the family, that they are the leader of the pack and the woman has to follow. Luckily, things are changing amongst educated and worldly-wise families. I find men to be very different today. I see a lot of men taking a backseat when they need to and the woman taking a backseat when she needs to. However, I’m painfully aware that there’s still a large section of the country and the world that follows old-school, patriarchal expectations, where the men are not comfortable with ambitious women. But those women have already been trailblazing in their fields! I don’t think any woman should accept anyone telling them what they can or cannot do.
I see a lot of women sacrificing and compromising their life’s ambitions and then regretting it later. If there is a reason for a woman to not work or build a career, by all means, don’t work. But just because a man tells you not to work, that’s not enough. If a man is insecure or not capable of doing something and wants to control a woman’s life, that is wrong. I think women are more than capable of taking care of themselves.”
RB: With your own wedding around the corner, has the excitement begun for you?
PC: “The wedding preparations will be happening soon and I am excited for it. I want to be involved in the planning; I mean, hopefully, my wedding will only take place once in my life, so I don’t want to miss out on the ideation. I’d hate it if somebody else planned the whole thing for me; that would be very boring.”
RB: Your engagement ceremony was intimate, would the wedding be an intimate affair too?
PC: “I hope so. Raghav and I both hope to keep the wedding as intimate as possible because that’s how we would really like it. We would like to be able to spend time with every guest, our closest people. We lead such public lives that when it comes to our big day, we’d like it to be extremely personal and meaningful.”
RB: Do you believe in soulmates?
PC: “This is a very difficult question because the definition of soulmates could be different. Usually, people think of soulmates as one romantic person that they have fallen deeply in love with, but that could just be the love of your life. Soulmates are people who are your soul in another body, who understand you without speaking much, who mirror you in terms of character and thinking. I read a very interesting quote a few years ago—it said, we usually describe love as getting butterflies in the stomach or getting nervous around a person. But love is when you feel absolutely calm and at peace in the other person’s company…when that person brings you calm and peace, or a hug can solve all your problems, or just sitting next to them can make you feel like yourself. That is when its true love. That’s when you know.”

RB: Your sister, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, got married a few years ago…is there any inspiration or tips you picked up from her wedding?
PC: “Not really…each person’s idea of what makes for a beautiful wedding is different. I would like my wedding to be unique to Raghav and me, and not a copy of anyone else. My wedding has to be tailor-made to us. I would want it to be pure, totally unique to us.”
RB: What skincare regime are you following in the run-up to the wedding?
PC: “I have heard that people start prepping months in advance, but I tend not to use too many products on my face. Also, I will be continuously working until the wedding day, so I’m not following any particular regime. Of course, a lot of water and sleep never hurt anybody.”
RB: And any exercise or diet regime?
PC: “No, I’m telling you—I think I’m going be a very different bride. I’m just going to continue with my life’s mantra—be fit, be happy, rest well, and be in a good frame of mind. That’s how I live my life.”
RB: And how do you stay in a good frame of mind?
PC: “Through understanding and acceptance—and acceptance—two principles that often get ignored. At any point, a disturbing event, comment, or human being could potentially ruin your peace…you need to understand the situation and move on very quickly because there are far more important things to direct your emotions towards. You need to turn your attention to your family, closest friends, partner, children, or work. Anything other than that is extra and unnecessary, and things get resolved or come to an end at some point, anyway. You can’t spend every minute worrying
about things that won’t matter three days from now. The moment you understand this basic principle and accept
things as they are, you won’t get stressed or worried.”
RB: What genre of music are you listening to these days?
PC: “I’ve begun listening to a lot of Punjabi music, actually, and that is a very recent phenomenon. I never took to Punjabi music earlier, even though I am Punjabi. Of late, I have found a lot of undiscovered gems and even old folk songs. I have really gone back to the motherland, emotionally. It’s brilliant. Some of the artists I’ve been listening to are Surinder Kaur ji, Amrinder Gill, Surinder Shinda, and Coke Studio Punjabi.”
RB: Which is your favourite romantic movie?
PC: “You know, I don’t watch movies. Growing up, our source of entertainment wasn’t the television or movies, and we didn’t go to the cinemas. Instead, we were exposed to a lot of music and recreational activities so we never got into the habit of sitting for three hours watching a film. I grew up in a very small town called Ambala [in Haryana], and we didn’t have a big, operational cinema back then. Even today, I only watch film that come highly-recommended. That, in fact, is
what I think most directors love about me—they always say my performances are not inspired by anybody. And that is probably because I haven’t picked up the usual mannerisms from famous films, or I can’t recreate any moments because I don’t know them. It works that I’m completely spontaneous and follow my intuition while performing. That said, I’m also the first person to request for a range of recommendations to watch for reference. I tend to balance out everything about myself.”
RB: Are you a spiritual person?
PC: “Absolutely. Spirituality comes from a frame of mind, it has nothing to do with one’s religious tuning in any way. Being a spiritual human being has to do with how you think and view life.”