Actress Priyanka Chopra on Monday remembered her late father Ashok Chopra on his 11th death anniversary, calling him the “brightest light” that continues to shine for her even after all these years.
Ashok, who had served in the Indian Army as a physician, passed away on June 10, 2013 after a long battle with cancer.
Sharing an Instagram reel that threaded together never-before-seen pictures from her childhood, the 41-year-old actress wrote, “The light of every room. You’re still our brightest light dad. 11 years without you and it still doesn’t feel real. Thinking of you today and everyday. I love you. Forever.”
The Citadel actress also reminded her fans to hold their loved ones close as time flies. “Hold your loved ones close and tell them you love them. Time can be short,” she signed off on a melancholy note.
The reel shows a montage of moments from Priyanka’s late father’s life, the highlight being him singing Sawan Ke Mahine Mein on stage. It goes to show pictures from family gatherings and celebrations with the dad-daughter duo always at the forefront.
Priyanka recently appeared on Read the Room podcast, where she opened up about coping with grief following the death of her father. “After my dad passed away, I came to a slow but steady conclusion that that kind of pain would never go away. It’s your companion,” she said, adding how one can never get over the death of a loved one.
The Love Again actress often shares anecdotes about her father. In 2020, she dropped a picture of herself as a child wearing her father’s Army uniform.
“This is a photo from the album in my upcoming book. I used to love following my dad around the house dressed in his Army uniform. I wanted to grow up and be exactly like him. He was my idol. My dad encouraged my sense of adventure. Even as a little girl...I was always out exploring, looking for adventure, trying to uncover something new. My urge was to do something that hadn’t been done before, to discover something that no one had found yet. I always wanted to be first. That urge drives me every day, in every single thing I do. #Unfinished,” she wrote alongside the picture.
In 2022, Priyanka also shared a picture featuring her father holding her in his arms when she was a child. “Daddy’s lil girl,” she captioned the photo.
On the work front, Priyanka recently started shooting for her upcoming thriller The Bluff in Australia. The film, which also stars The Boys actor Karl Urban, will see Priyanka as a former female pirate who must protect her family “when mysterious sins from her past resurface”.