Priyanka Chopra Creates a New Popcorn Flavor with Husband and 'Best Friend' Nick Jonas: 'So Fun'

Mumbai Nights Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas Popcorn Launch
Mumbai Nights Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas Popcorn Launch
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Patrick Cox

The Jonas Brothers are spicing up their popcorn brand, Rob's Backstage Popcorn, thanks to Priyanka Chopra.

The actress and wife of Nick Jonas has partnered with the brothers and co-founder, Rob Garbowsky, to create a flavor of her own — and she took the job very seriously.

"Indian food is so diverse and Indian spices are so diverse, they all lead to another journey," Chopra, 40, tells PEOPLE. "I wanted it to have a little bit of a kick, but not to be like chili spicy. So it's heavy on the cumin, onion, garlic, turmeric and red peppers. It's a very interesting spice mix, and it's very unique to our popcorn."

The flavor, titled Mumbai Nights, also got the Chopra touch when it came to the bag design.

"If you walk into our kitchen, you'll see a space where all our favorite snacks for the month are given a prominent position, and I wanted to make the bag something which would be beautiful, that you'd want to display, which I think it is," says the Love Again star. "I made the writing sort of this muted gold because it's so good, and the color is spearmint because that's just one of my favorite greens, and I just think it's super chic looking."

Mumbai Nights Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas Popcorn Launch
Mumbai Nights Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas Popcorn Launch

The Naked Market

After living in Mumbai for 15 years, Chopra has a special place in her heart for the city.

"Mumbai is chaotic and seductive at the same time. And that's why I called it Mumbai Nights because the humid, seductive, sexy Mumbai nights were sort of the inspiration behind the flavor for me," she says.

What made the flavor even more special for the actress was getting to create it with her husband.

"Nick and I, as much as we have our individual careers and lives, we end up inspiring the work that we both do because I mean, you come back home and you're having dinner and you're talking about your day and it becomes one in a way. So working with Nick is very easy," she says.

"So far," Chopra teases. "We're always on the same page and it's just so fun because this is my best friend and someone that knows me more than anyone else. I could absolutely and wholly be myself and be completely honest with how I feel and not be worried about complications that you have with work colleagues. This is my person, so it makes it so much easier."

Chopra Jonas Wedding, New Delhi, India - 04 Dec 2018
Chopra Jonas Wedding, New Delhi, India - 04 Dec 2018

Altaf Qadri/AP/REX/Shutterstock Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas at their wedding reception in New Delhi, India in December

Chopra was there when Rob's Backstage Popcorn was in its early stages, prior to its launch in 2021.

It all began during the Happiness Begins Tour. Rob, father of Greg Garbowsky (longtime friend, former bass guitarist and current member of the Jonas Brothers' management team) brought a "big old trash bag full of popcorn" he had made for everyone to snack on.

"It was supposed to last a few days and we finished it in 40 minutes," says Chopra. "So Nick during the pandemic was like, 'We should sell this popcorn because it's really amazing.' And it came to fruition."

Now Chopra will certainly be taking Mumbai Nights on the road for the next Jonas Brothers tour, which she is looking forward to.

"The tour wife thing, it was the first time I was doing it for the Happiness Begins Tour and it was fun. I love, love, love them on stage. They're an incredible experience when you watch them live and I don't get enough of it," she says.

Watching her husband on stage gave Chopra a newfound appreciation for the music industry.

"[It's] insane what musicians do. I don't know how they do it… tour life is really crazy. It's so hectic. You have late nights, early mornings, you're traveling to a different city every day and you do it for three months," Chopra says.

"That's why my music career lasted two seconds," she jokes. "I was not meant to do that. This rockstar life is ... I admire it tremendously. It's definitely not for the weak-hearted."

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 24: Jonas Brothers perform at halftime during a game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants at AT&T Stadium on November 24, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys defeated the Giants 28-20. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 24: Jonas Brothers perform at halftime during a game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants at AT&T Stadium on November 24, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys defeated the Giants 28-20. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

Wesley Hitt/Getty Jonas Brothers

Her career in the popcorn business won't be as short lived — she's not ruling out more flavors.

"I think that there's so much that NJ and I end up doing together that you just never know what will happen," she says. For the time being, however, Chopra is focused on the launch of Mumbai Nights.

"Growing up I went to high school in America, and whenever you would look for Indian snacks or anything with kind of an Indian flavor, it would always be in the ethnic aisle in a grocery store mixed up with so many other ethnicities," she says. "But I'm really happy to be able to create something which is super mainstream and you can just find in the popcorn aisle, which makes me proud."

Rob's Backstage Popcorn Mumbai Nights will be available at 9 a.m. ET on Thursday, March 2 on eatrobs.com and in-stores at Walmart and Albertsons.