The 'junglee billi' of Bollywood, Priyanka Chopra turns 31 today. We trace her journey towards stardom with a collection of candid images


Girl-next-door Priyanka Chopra became a known face in the glamour industry when she finished second in the Femina Miss India contest winning the Miss India World title in 2000. She added another feather in her cap after being crowned Miss World in the same year


Two years later, she step her foot into the acting industry with Tamil film 'Thamizhan'


Sunny Deol and Preity Zinta starrer film 'The Hero' in 2002 marked Priyanka's entry in Bollywood


Three years later, she decided to explore her singing proficiency and lent her voice as a playback singer in the film 'Barsaat' in 2005. Though her first ever recording remains in the Tamil film 'Thamizhan'. In pic: Priyanka Chopra with Bobby Deol and Suniel Shetty


This is a lesser known fact that Priyanka Chopra turned down the lead role in 'Umrao Jaan' (2006) to work in 'Bluffmaster' (2005).


In 2006, Priyanka's name was listed first in 'Asia's Sexiest Women' by a UK magazine


She won a National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in 'Fashion' (2008) wherein she portrayed the ambitious supermodel Meghna Mathur. The film was a drama about the Indian fashion industry which followed the lives and careers of several fashion models.


This was followed by a series of notable films like 'Dostana', 'Kaminey', 'What's Your Rashee', 'Anjaana Anjaani', '7 Khoon Maaf', 'RA.One' and more which helped her carve a niche and strengthen her foothold in the industry.


Priyanka did not hold herself back from performing her stunts on her own. She underwent martial arts training for films like 'Don' and 'Don 2'.


In 2010, she hosted the third season of the reality show 'Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi'. According to contestants, in hosting the series, Priyanka had "transformed into quite a whip-wielding dictator", relentlessly pushing the contestants to work. She performed most of her own stunts, adamant to prove that she could rival Akshay Kumar, who had hosted the previous two seasons.


Despite the number of roles she did in the past, Priyanka came as a surprise in the role of Jhilmil in Anurag Basu's 'Barfi!' in 2012.


In 2012, she also released her first single 'In My City', which, although a commercial success in India, was met with mixed reactions from the critics. Recently, her second single 'Exotic' featuring Pitbull is getting mixed reactions


Following this she turned item girl with a special appearance in 'Shootout at Wadala' in a song called 'Babli Badmaash Hai'. Reportedly, PC was strict over the lyrics and footage, in that she frowned against the use of vulgar words or skin on show, and rejected the songs of various composers before deciding upon an appropriate number


Priyanka was very close to her father Ashok Chopra, who died in June 2013. It was only last year when she got a tattoo reading 'Daddy's lil girl' inked on her wrist, in his handwriting


With success looming all over her destiny, Piggy Chops has her kitty full with films like 'Gunday', the untitled Mary Kom biopic, 'Zanjeer', 'Krrish 3' and animated film 'Planes'.