Priyanka Chopra Unveils Empress Cover as Sridevi’s Official Biography Gets a New Title

Priyanka Chopra Jonas marked Sridevi’s birth anniversary on August 13, 2026, by revealing the cover of Empress: The Definitive Biography of Sridevi, bringing a long-in-development authorised biography of the late screen icon back into the spotlight.

The book is written by Dhiraj U. Kumarr and will be published by Westland Books. Priyanka shared the cover through her social-media accounts alongside a brief remembrance of Sridevi and indicated that the biography is “coming soon.” Boney Kapoor subsequently reshared the post.

The cover also features an endorsement from Amitabh Bachchan describing Sridevi as “the epitome of unmitigated talent.”

But the cover reveal is notable for another reason: the project has been publicly in development for more than three years and has undergone a visible title change along the way.

The biography was first announced in 2023 under another title

Westland Books originally announced the authorised biography on February 8, 2023, as Sridevi: The Life of a Legend. The publisher had acquired the publishing rights, with Dhiraj Kumar attached as author and the cooperation of Sridevi’s family.

At the time, Boney Kapoor said Dhiraj was someone Sridevi considered family and expressed support for him documenting her life. Author Dhiraj Kumar also publicly thanked Boney Kapoor and members of Sridevi’s extended family for their permission and support.

The 2023 announcement initially said the book was expected that year. That timetable did not materialise.

Now, more than three years later, the same authorised biography has resurfaced as Empress: The Definitive Biography of Sridevi. The current promotional material continues to identify Dhiraj U. Kumarr as author and Westland Books as publisher.

That continuity strongly establishes Empress as the evolved version of the previously announced biography rather than an unrelated new Sridevi book.

Why Dhiraj U. Kumarr’s access matters

Westland’s original announcement positioned the biography as more than a conventional filmography.

The publisher said Dhiraj’s friendship with Sridevi and her family had given him unusual access to the private world of an actor who largely guarded her personal life from public scrutiny. Westland executive editor Sanghamitra Biswas also highlighted the research behind the project when the acquisition was announced.

That family cooperation is important because Sridevi’s story cuts across several Indian film industries rather than fitting neatly into a Hindi-cinema biography.

Her screen career stretched across several decades and included work in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi cinema. Westland’s original announcement described a career of more than 300 films and presented the planned biography as a comprehensive portrait of her professional and personal journey.

Priyanka Chopra’s reveal was timed to Sridevi’s birth anniversary

Priyanka’s first-look reveal arrived on August 13, the anniversary of Sridevi’s birth.

Rather than announcing a publication date, she shared the finished-looking cover and described the book as coming soon. Reports covering the reveal consistently identify Westland as publisher and Dhiraj U. Kumarr as author.

Author Dhiraj U. Kumarr subsequently thanked Priyanka publicly for sharing the cover, further supporting the authenticity of the launch.

Sridevi was born on August 13, 1963, making the anniversary a natural moment to revive public attention around the biography.

A publication date has still not been announced

One detail readers should not assume from the cover launch is a confirmed release date.

The original 2023 schedule has plainly changed, and the 2026 material reviewed for this report describes Empress as “coming soon” without giving a specific day or month of publication.

Until Westland publishes a formal release date or retail listing with firm availability information, it would therefore be premature to report a specific launch date.

What is confirmed is that the authorised biography remains active, has a new title and cover, retains its original author and publisher, and is once again being publicly promoted.

The Celebrity Hour Take

The most interesting part of this announcement is not simply that Priyanka Chopra shared a Sridevi tribute. It offers the clearest public update in years on an authorised biography that was originally supposed to arrive in 2023.

The change from Sridevi: The Life of a Legend to Empress: The Definitive Biography of Sridevi also suggests a more deliberate positioning of the book around Sridevi’s stature as a genuinely cross-industry star. Long before “pan-India” became routine film-marketing vocabulary, her career had already connected Tamil, Telugu and Hindi mainstream cinema at an extraordinary scale.

For readers, the next meaningful development will therefore not be another celebrity tribute but Westland’s final publication details: release date, definitive contents and the extent of the family and industry material incorporated into Dhiraj U. Kumarr’s account.

Sources & Verification

This report was independently prepared using Westland Books’ original 2023 announcement of Sridevi’s authorised biography, contemporaneous statements from Boney Kapoor and author Dhiraj Kumar, Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ August 13, 2026 cover reveal, and recent agency and established-news coverage confirming the revised title, author and publisher.

The book’s authorised status is supported by Westland’s original acquisition announcement and Boney Kapoor’s publicly documented cooperation with the project. A specific 2026 publication date was not found and has therefore not been stated as confirmed.