A stunning picture of Priyanka Chopra and daughter Malti Marie, part of a photoshoot for British Vogue, has polarized the Internet. The photo shows Priyanka, 40, reclining with Malti Marie turned towards her and away from the camera. Mother and daughter, who just turned one, are both dressed in red and are posed against a red background. The powerful image was shared by Priyanka Chopra on her Instagram account with the caption "Another one of our many firsts together." The comments thread is filled with admiring responses, some of them from celebrities like Priyanka's cousin Parineeti Chopra, Huma Qureshi, Upasana Kamineni Konidela, Sonali Bendre and Rhea Kapoor.
Several other comments, however, were less than complimentary. Many of those commenting wrote that they didn't see the point of the picture, questioning why Malti Marie was in the photo at all if the world has not been allowed to see her face yet. "You have every right to keep her out of the public eye but why do this purposely and then hide her," read one comment. "That baby is just a prop," read another.
"It's OK not to include her in pictures that are public," someone advised Priyanka in the comments. "Why not just do the photoshoot by yourself," asked another. A third comment added, "Why do celebrities do this?"
"At first it was cute and all, but now it's just getting dramatic," read another comment.
Others on the thread jumped to Priyanka Chopra's defence. "Stop complaining. It's her baby, it's her right and choice, whatever she wants," read one comment. "All the people complaining, she just wants to show the affection she has for her child without showing her face," read another. A third read, "I can't believe how dumb people are. She wants to protect her child but share her own life as a new mum."
See Priyanka Chopra's post here:
Priyanka Chopra addressed trolling in her interview with British Vogue, saying that while she's developed a thick skin, comments about Malti Marie are unwelcome. "I've developed a tough hide when people talk about me but it's so painful when they talk about my daughter. I'm like, 'Keep her out of it.' I know what it felt like to hold her little hands when they were trying to find her veins. So no, she's not going to be gossip. I've been really protective of this chapter of my life with my daughter. Because it's not about my life only. It's hers too," she said.
Priyanka Chopra and husband Nick Jonas welcomed Malti Marie via surrogacy in January 2022. Priyanka revealed to Vogue that she had "medical complications" because of which the couple opted for surrogacy. ""You don't know me. You don't know what I've been through. And just because I don't want to make my medical history, or my daughter's, public doesn't give you the right to make up whatever the reasons were," she said in her interview.
Priyanka Chopra was last seen on screen in 2021's The Matrix Resurrections. She will be seen this year in Love Again opposite Sam Heughan and has a lead role in the upcoming TV series Citadel, made by the Russo Brothers.