Priyanka Chopra is very cost-conscious whenever she's making an independent movie.

The 44-year-old actress plays Myla Reese, a grieving UN translator, in Bluefly, the new sci-fi action thriller set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Priyanka has admitted to being frugal throughout the shoot.

Discussing the challenges of making an independent movie, Priyanka told The Hollywood Reporter: "In every element, you think, 'I don't want to add a cost to this,' or, 'I want to make sure we spend everything we need to on making the movie,' and you try to be a team player.

"I try to do that anyway, but when you work on an indie, your brain does think that way. I want to protect the film in every way we can, and I think everyone -- every department head, the cast -- feels that way."

Bluefly is filmed on Australia's Gold Coast and Priyanka has opened up about filming the movie in the scenic setting.

She shared: "The crew in Australia is amazing -- they have so much experience. Our sets will eventually look like we're in the Republic of Congo, and the detailing the production design team is doing will make sure we don't miss a beat.

"That's how movies are made: You cheat locations … and you make sure you do justice to the detail. I've now been part of so many projects where we've re-created places.

"I have a movie coming out in April, Varanasi, and we re-created the entire Varanasi ghats in a completely different city, Hyderabad. That's the magic of the movies, and it's one of the things I'm a big fan of."

Priyanka also relished the experience of spending time in Australia.

The actress - who has Malti, four, with husband Nick Jonas - said: "There's so much filming in Australia, especially on the Gold Coast, and it's one of my favorite places to film. It's so far away from everything, but you wake up in the morning -- my daughter's here with me -- and we go for a walk on the beach and grab breakfast. She loves it. I love it. It's really wonderful to be able to film here."