Pitch Perfect: Priyanka Chopra

 

It was an ordinary editorial meeting at Prestige magazine’s desk when the PR email landed. A pitch for a cover story: Priyanka Chopra, the Bollywood star, freshly announced as the face of Guess’s Holiday 2013 campaign. Photographed by none other than Bryan Adams - you remember, the Canadian singer who sang mushy songs in the 90s, a soundtrack of several rom coms. A new side hustle in photography?! Ok then...  

Chopra, the first Indian, first South Asian, Guess Girl. The discussion that followed was long and, in hindsight, revealing. I put my two cents in. Indian actresses, much like many Chinese stars before them, had tried to break into Hollywood. Very few had ever reached anything close to Julia Roberts territory. 

The erudite thespian Shabana Azmi hadn’t. Even the staggeringly beautiful Aishwarya Rai - Miss World, no less - hadn’t quite cracked that particular code. So why would a dusky-skinned, husky-voiced, multi-syllabic name like Priyanka Chopra make any real ripples?

The room largely agreed. The campaign looked glamorous, of course. Shot in a Mediterranean-style villa in Pasadena around August or September 2013, the black-and-white images carried that classic Guess sensuality. The ads would land in the December issues of Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Marie Claire and the rest. Still, we wondered whether it would be more than a fleeting fashion moment.

Every succeeding year since 2013, Ms Chopra, now Mrs Chopra-Jonas, has systematically proved us wrong. 

There were the inevitable missteps: a few large-scale, heavily hyped films that underwhelmed (Baywatch among them). Yet she kept showing up - in primetime American television, in The Matrix sequels, on the major talk-show circuit. Where some of her contemporaries appeared slightly guarded or formal, Chopra was consistently elegant, spoke exceedingly well and was genuinely amusing. She possessed that elusive star je ne sais quoi: personable, charming, and completely at ease in rooms that had rarely made space for women who looked or sounded like her.

Looking back, the Guess campaign was never just a fashion job. It was an early, confident declaration that she intended to operate on a global stage - and that she would do so on her own terms. 

We dismissed the pitch back then. She made sure we never forgot it.

BTW, I spent the day with Priyanka Chopra in 2009 for Post magazine feature when she was a newcomer. 

Brief Encounter: Reclaiming Strength: How Avey Cortes Rebuilt His Life and Launched a Fitness Movement in Hong Kong

Avey Cortes has built his life and career around movement that feels good. Born and raised here, he returned for good around 2010 after studying and working abroad. Before wellness he worked in TV promos, marketing and hospitality events - long days, late nights, then the gym at 5am on little sleep.

His serious fitness path began after a Bali wellness retreat he reviewed for a local media outlet. “It showed me fitness wasn’t about being picked or proving anything; it was about balance, rest, connection, actually looking after myself,” he says. As a child he loved to move but was bullied and left off teams, so he leaned into running and later the gym on his own terms. The retreat changed everything. By 2015 he left corporate life for good.

He became one of the original FAMILY FORM trainers, spent five years as a lululemon ambassador and led classes across Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Guatemala and the Philippines. Everything he learned now shapes and sculpt, the studio he founded.

What works best for him is consistency, variety and enjoyment. “The moment training feels like punishment, you quit - so I’ve always chased the version that feels good.” He favours sculpt: low-impact, mat-based work with hand and ankle weights that builds strength without wrecking the body. Hot sculpt classes in infrared heat force presence. He plans weeks that include intensity, recovery and breathwork, and values community energy.

Overtraining while exhausted and chasing looks only brought burnout and injuries. “Recovery isn’t the reward for training, it’s part of it.” Nutrition stays flexible: roughly 80 per cent whole foods, 20 per cent real life, no tracking or guilt.

His advice is simple: “Put the fun and the connection back in movement… Find something you actually enjoy, start exactly where you are, and let consistency do the work instead of intensity.” His ethos; move, sweat, discover.
In 2026, all seem to be digitally linked and yet remain disconnected. A space where everyone belongs - this is why and sculpt exists:

"For more information, visit AND SCULPT in residency at Upper House — www.andsculpt.com"

Words: P.Ramakrishnan
Images: Ivan Lui

Avey Cortes 的人生與事業，皆圍繞著「讓人感覺良好」的運動而建立。他在香港土生土長，在外國求學和工作後，於 2010 年左右決定回流定居。在投身身心健康（wellness）領域前，他曾從事電視宣傳、市場推廣及酒店活動籌辦等工作——那些日子總是早出晚歸，即使睡眠不足，清晨五點依然堅持前往健身房。

他的深度健身之路，源於一次為本地媒體採訪的峇里身心健康靜修營。「那次體驗讓我明白，健身不是為了被挑選，亦非要向誰證明什麼；它的核心在於平衡、休息、連結，以及真正善待自己。」他分享道。小時候的他熱愛運動，卻曾遭遇霸凌，甚至被排擠在球隊之外，因此他轉向跑步，隨後開始按自己的節奏自主健身。而峇里之行改變了一切，到了 2015 年，他正式告別職場大企業的生活。

他成為 FAMILY FORM 的創始教練之一，並擔任了五年 lululemon 品牌大使，教學足跡遍及澳洲、印尼、南韓、新加坡、泰國、危地馬拉及菲律賓。過往累積的一切經驗，如今都注入了他一手創立的健身工作室 and sculpt。

對他而言，最有效的方法莫過於持之以恆、多樣化以及享受過程。「當訓練變得像懲罰時，你就會放棄——所以我一直追求能讓自己感覺良好的運動方式。」他偏愛雕塑（sculpt）訓練：一種低衝擊、基於瑜伽墊進行的運動，搭配手腕及腳踝負重，能在不損害身體的前提下建立力量。紅外線高溫雕塑課堂更能讓人專注於當下。他會在每週計劃中平衡高強度訓練、修復及呼吸練習，並非常看重社群帶來的能量。

在疲憊不堪時過度訓練，或是盲目追求外在身材，只會帶來倦怠與傷患。「修復並不是訓練後的獎勵，而是訓練不可或缺的一部分。」在飲食方面，他保持靈活彈性：大約八成選擇原型食物，兩成回歸現實生活，不記錄卡路里，亦無需有罪惡感。

他的建議相當直接：「把樂趣與連結重新帶回運動中…… 找尋你真正喜愛的事物，從此時此刻的狀態開始，讓持之以恆發揮作用，而非一味追求高強度。」他的理念是：動起來、流汗、去探索。 來到 2026 年，科技讓萬物在數位網絡中緊密相連，人與人之間卻依然疏離。一個讓每個人都能找到歸屬感的空間——這正是 and sculpt 存在的理由：

「欲了解更多資訊，請造訪位於奕居（The Upper House）驻场的 AND SCULPT — www.andsculpt.com」

撰文：P.Ramakrishnan

攝影：Ivan Lui

Remembering Rishi Kapoor : Birth Anniversary of an underrated and brilliant actor

Born on Sep 4, 1952, remembering the legend Rishi Kapoor today.

Famous from birth, the son of Indian icon Raj Kapoor was a fine actor - on occasion, even a great one. 

Was a thrill to interview him for the paper - you can see the entire feature at South China Morning Post here.

Shout out to Vincent who came in quickly to shoot this legend of Indian cinema. 

 

Interview with CEO of Martel

 A fun chat with Martel CEO on top of the Ritz... 

Menswear shoot with James Wong: TBT to 2021

 

Outtakes from a shoot with actor/model/personal trainer in Hong Kong, James Wong. Shot by French photographer Sami Alliott.

With Coco and Nigel Luk Regional Managing Director, Cartier North Asia

 

One of my favourite interviews during my tenure at Robb Report Hong Kong (which has closed shop due to... too many reasons to list), was with Nigel Luk, the Regional Managing Director, Cartier North Asia. The on-camera chat was informative, to-the-point, and filled with anecdotes that made for good YouTube chat. The off-the-record conversation, when we were shooting B-roll, un-mic'd, was hugely entertaining. My team and I were having a stressful time at work, one of many bad weeks at publishing, and while bemoaning the existential crisis of media, Nigel not only lent us a sympathetic ear, added to the conversation with the spiciest and saltiest of recalls from his rich professional chapters... none of which can be repeated! 

I really hope to have a sit-down chat with him AFTER he leaves office, an uncensored look at Luk. 

Till then... 

Talk is Cheap: But I'm not... Well...

Was guest speaker at a talk earlier this year. 

Theme: Experiential Luxury. 

The new experiential luxury; emotion over transaction, through the lens of design, elevated surroundings, curated ambiance and sensory experiences. Luxury here is about feeling, memory and meaning. 

Unpacking what truly attracts, what creates desire with depth and how craft, technology and story telling shape experiences that resonate without chasing trends. 

Event hosted by Marc-David and Marie Helene Prevot.