Oh, to be a fly on the wall as Priyanka Chopra (PC) prepared for the 98th Academy Awards at a plush Los Angeles hotel with her style team comprising hairstylist Bridget Brager and makeup artist Morgane Martini. There must have been a polite but albeit high-stakes tussle between the hair and makeup teams, we imagine, as fashion diktats command a sleek bun for a strapless Dior gown commandeered for PC for the evening. But it seems PC’s thick, signature Indian tresses ultimately ruled the day, as she let them cascade over her shoulders, while sporting a stunning Bvlgari Eclettica sapphire necklace.
Every detail had been factored in, as this was her second time presenting at the Oscars, and the stakes were ‘desi girl, global stage’ high. Maybe her PR Team gave her a brief, and phrases like ‘stunning’, and ‘let the gown do the talking’ must have been thrown around. Nod. Smile. Appear welcoming. Etc etc. All good. But they didn’t factor in the other co-presenter. Enter Javier Bardem, the Latino actor for whom the meme, ‘Bruh didn’t hesitate’ must have been coined for. As the two took the stage, the very well-manicured look of PC dove headlong into a wall of geopolitical reality. It was a train wreck that even a team of $800-an-hour crisis managers couldn’t have prepared her for.
Being Bardem
Bardem unleashed a snake in the henhouse, with a resounding ‘No to war… and free Palestine’ battle cry. If only someone on PC’s team had done their homework; the Oscar-winning Bardem wasn’t just wearing a ‘No a la Guerra (No to War) lapel pin, he was wearing his conscience, his politics and belief system, literally on his heart. A humble Google search — we are sure she employs an army to track her socials — could have informed her that at the 2025 Emmys, Bardem had essentially turned the Keffiyeh scarf into a red-carpet staple. You can’t get much louder than that about your politics. As Bardem remained true to his conscience and used the global platform of the most glitzy night in Hollywood to appeal for ending the conflict in Gaza, and talk about actual human beings, PC stood there, a vision in Dior and detached ambivalence. One could almost hear the cogs in her brain whirring, calculating the millions she has riding on brand endorsements and she invoked rule 101 of the Miss World 2000 Beauty Pageant Manual: ‘When in doubt, smile and nod.’
Also read: Oscars 2026: The night the Academy Awards changed the script
PC had certainly been factored for every Indian news outlet’s homepage, just not in the way she would have hoped – best dressed, best chemistry, Indians for the win. Nope. By the time South Asia woke up and consumed their morning chai, Dior had been replaced with our Desi girl’s far saltier epithet– Daal Gadot. For those who have escaped this avalanche of internet content, Daal Gadot is a blend of actor Gal Gadot, a known and vocal supporter of Israel and IDF and PC’s latest neutral avatar.
The Ghost of Activism Past
Why are we even surprised? It’s not like PC did something to break away from current tradition. She’s only following the ‘Brand Safety’ rules that are now inscribed on the Mumbai skyline. However, a not so long time ago — though it clearly felt like it was — when money was not the only currency in Indian star space, our actors used their stance for things that mattered. Legendary actor Dev Anand didn’t just ‘vibe’ with his heroines, his films always had a cause; something which he lived for in real life as well. He spoke against the 1970s Emergency. As a result, his films were blacklisted by the state-owned Doordarshan — the lone channel in town back then. The actor had everything to lose, but clearly, he was living in his ‘IDGAF’ era – decades before the meme even existed. There’s a reason he’s the GOAT, and it wasn’t just the swag and slick scarves, it was the spine.
File photo of Dev Anand. The actor spoke against the 1970s Emergency, resulting in his films being blacklisted by the state-owned Doordarshan.
Famous lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi voiced his discontent against the government multiple times – against the British, then the 1968 war, and even against the Nehru administration. The iconic lines from Pyaasa, ‘Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind Par Wo Kahan Hain’ was a direct hit on the people in power. Actress Shabana Azmi had reportedly decided to forego the comfort of her vanity van to strike for slum dwellers. Even the king of Neutrality and the go-to acceptable pastel flavour for most Indians, Amitabh Bachchan, once had a political and social conscience. And in those pixelated, sepia tinted footage that routinely pops up on social media, YouTube, Shah Rukh Khan once shared strong opinions on women being treated as equals (horror, horror). He essentially asked all of us to be feminists, even before it became a Bumble Bio, or Dior embroidered it on a tote bag.
Also read: Are women’s stories finally taking centre stage in cinema?
Contrast desi icons of today with the ilk of Robert De Niro, who has called US President Donald Trump, ‘A clown’; actor Sean Penn who missed the Oscars – he even got the award for Best Supporting Actor – to visit Ukraine (President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later posted a photo of his meeting with the actor); Meryl Streep, used the 2017 Golden Globes to deliver a powerful speech against the anti-immigration campaign of Trump. She even pulled a ‘roll call’ of Hollywood A-listers like Ryan Gosling, reminding the room that they were all ‘outsiders’ once. That’s Meryl Steel for you.
The Fault In Our Stars, or Us
While we hee and haw at the sight of our desi icons brandishing their social conscience—oh, sorry, the lack thereof. As they prioritise their iron-clad contracts and Bvlgari endorsements, perhaps the real audit belongs to us. If we choose to idolise and worship those who prefer ‘Brand Safety’ and their bank balance over having a voice, maybe it’s high time to revisit and rethink why we call them ‘our icons’ in the first place. Because the minute you’re on stage with someone like Bardem, or Penn, or De Niro or Streep, who wield their conscience and voice as the accessory of choice in a red carpet battle off, the only thing that screams louder than their beliefs is the deafening sound of a perfectly polished silence.
Or maybe Ricky Gervais had it all figured out in his viral 2020 Golden Globes opening monologue. “….So if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. So if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent, and your God and fuck off, OK? It’s already three hours long..,” Gervais had said. The fault is perhaps in us, we are looking for substance, where ideally, only star dust exists.
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