Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra dresses down critics over PM meeting attire

Priyanka Chopra during her visit to Berlin. EPA / CARSTEN KOALL

Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra has hit back at critics who were trying to shame her over a dress she wore during a meeting with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi this week.

The actress was accused of “disrespecting” the prime minister by wearing a knee-length dress revealing her lower legs during an audience with the leader in Berlin.

Chopra copped it on social media from critics who claimed the outfit unsuitable for the occasion, many were offended that the 34-year-old star had not chosen to wear Indian attire.

The star of the hit American spy thriller Quantico and upcoming release Baywatch was unapologetic, hitting back with a photo showing her and her mother wearing short dresses with the caption "legs for days ... #itsthegenes".

The former Miss World describes herself as a “strong-willed feminist” who has campaigned to close the gender pay gap in Bollywood and change attitudes towards women in her home country.

“For so many years women were told to act a certain way, to dress a certain way, to think a certain way, even not to think at all,” Chopra said in an interview last year.

“People misconstrue the word feminism. It is not hating men, or making men small. It is just saying, ‘We want our independence to make our own choices the way men have done for so long’.”

* AFP