Chopra studied at St. Maria Goretti in Bareilly, as a young girl and later went to the United States, where she was a student at Newton North High School in Newton, Massachusetts and North Delta Senior Secondary School in North Delta before returning to India to complete high school at Army School (Bareilly). She began college at Jai Hind College in Mumbai but left after winning the Miss World pageant.
Chopra was crowned Miss India World and later Miss World in 2000. In the same year, Lara Dutta and Dia Mirza, both from India, won the Miss Universe and Miss Asia Pacific crowns, in a rare triple. When she won the Miss World crown, she became the fifth Indian woman to win the title, and the fourth Indian woman to win in a span of seven years.
After winning the Miss World title, Chopra became an actress. She made her debut in the 2002 Tamil film Thamizhan alongside Vijay, in which she also sung playback, before moving on to Bollywood. In 2003, her first Bollywood film, The Hero: Love Story of a Spy released and won her good reviews. Despite being given a below average status, the film went on to become one of the highest grossing films of that year. Her next film, Andaaz opposite Akshay Kumar was a success, earning her a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award and a nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award.
Her next few films failed to do well at the box office. In 2004, her film, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi released and became the third highest grossing film of that year. Her first negative role in her next release, Aitraaz, a Hindi remake of the Demi Moore-starrer Disclosure won her critical acclaim and earned a Filmfare Best Villain Award. Her role also got her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. In the same year, she participated in a world tour aptly titled Temptations 2004 with Bollywood's leading stars, Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji and Arjun Rampal. 
In 2005, she had many releases, though most did not do well at the box office. In 2006, Chopra starred in two of the most successful films of the year - Krrish and Don - The Chase Begins Again. Nikhil Advani's multi-starrer, Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love was her first release in 2007. The movie failed to do well at the box office. Chopra's next release, Big Brother also failed to do well. Her most recent releases include Love Story 2050, God Tussi Great Ho and Chamku, all of which failed to do well at the box office.
