Born on January 31, 1975, Preity Zinta is an Indian entrepreneur and actress best known for her roles in Hindi films. Following her graduation in 1998 with honours in both criminal psychology and English, Zinta acted in her first film, Dil Se.., and then played a part in the film Soldier.
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Her portrayal of a teenage single mother in Kya Kehna (2000) won her recognition, and she went on to win the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for her performances. After that, she made a name for herself as a prominent actor in Hindi films, playing a range of character roles. She received attention and multiple awards for her parts, which were frequently seen as culturally provocative, along with her unique on-screen character.
After receiving positive reviews for her performances in Armaan (2003), Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001), and Dil Hai Tumhaara (2002), Zinta won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her work in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003). She was recognised for her portrayal of independent, modern Indian women in Salaam Namaste (2005) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), top-grossing blockbusters in both domestic and international markets.
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She has starred in two consecutive annual top-grossing films in India, Koi… Mil Gaya (2003) and Veer-Zaara (2004). She received the Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress for her first international appearance in the Canadian film Heaven on Earth (2008), for which she was also nominated for a Genie Award.
After that, she took a few years off from performing, with the exception of Ishkq in Paris (2013), her self-produced comeback picture, which was a commercial failure.
In addition, Zinta presents television, acts on stage, and is a social activist. She contributed a number of essays to BBC News Online South Asia between 2004 and 2005. In addition to being the creator of PZNZ Media, she co-owns the Punjab Kings cricket team in the Indian Premier League and has owned the Stellenbosch Kings cricket side in the South African T20 Global League since 2017. Zinta has occasionally caused controversy because she is renowned in the Indian media for voicing her opinions in public.
She was the only witness in the 2004 Bharat Shah case to not recant her prior accusations against the Indian mafia in court; for this, she received the Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Award.
Preity Zinta Childhood And Upbringing
Preity was born on January 31, 1975, in the Himachal Pradesh district of Shimla, into a Hindu Rajput family. Durganand Zinta, her father, was an Indian Army officer. When she was thirteen, he passed away in a vehicle crash in which her mother, Nilprabha, was also seriously hurt and had to stay bedridden for two years.
Zinta described the terrible mishap and her father’s passing as a pivotal moment in her life that compelled her to grow up quickly. Her two brothers, Manish and Deepankar, are one year her junior and one year her older, respectively. Manish resides in California, while Deepankar is an Indian Army commissioned officer.
Zinta, who identifies as a tomboy, has highlighted that her father’s military experience left a lasting influence on her regarding the conduct of family life. He emphasised to the kids the value of self-control and punctuality. She attended the Shimla residential school, Convent of Jesus and Mary.
She acknowledged that she was lonely at the boarding school, but she also mentioned that it was made up for by the fact that she had made the “…perfect set of friends” there. She fell in love with literature as a student, especially poetry and the works of William Shakespeare. Zinta said she had outstanding grades and enjoyed her studies. She also said she liked to play sports, especially basketball, in her free time.
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After her schooling at Convent of Jesus and Mary, Shimla, Zinta enrolled at St. Bede’s College in Shimla, a branch of Himachal Pradesh University. She graduated with an English honours degree, and then started a graduate programme in psychology.
She earned a postgraduate degree in criminal psychology, but later took up modelling. Zinta’s first television commercial was for Perk chocolates, the result of a chance meeting with a director at a friend’s birthday party in 1996. The director persuaded Zinta to audition for the spot, and she was selected. Afterwards, she appeared in other catalogues and commercials, including one for the soap Liril.
Preity Zinta Early Roles And Acting Debut (1998–1999)
Zinta first got to know Shekhar Kapur in 1997 when she went to an audition in Mumbai with a friend and was urged to try out as well. After witnessing her audition, Kapur demanded that she pursue a career in acting. Filming for Kapur’s Tara Rum Pum Pum, in which she was supposed to star alongside Hrithik Roshan, was called off.
Reflecting on the event, she said, “I started to realise the influence of fate. I never intended to pursue a career in acting.” Later, Kapur suggested she be cast in Mani Ratnam’s romantic thriller Dil Se (1998), which is about a terrorist organisation in New Delhi.
Zinta often remembers how her friends used to make fun of her for always wanting to “wear white saris and dance in the rain” when she first started working in the film industry, which encouraged her to take on various roles.
Preity Zinta Additional Work
Writing Columns
Zinta became one of several South Asian pundits for BBC News Online in 2004. She said, “I am pretty outspoken and have my own view on every subject,” expressing her happiness at becoming a part of the initiative. Thus, it will be an excellent forum for me to express my opinions.”
Published in January 2004, her debut piece “The changing face of Bollywood” examined the changes that Bollywood has seen over the previous ten years. The piece rose to the top 10 most-read stories of the day on the website. Zinta examined the topic of eve teasing in India in her second column, “Odds stacked against Indian women,” and she chastised those who engage in it.
She stated, “It is frustrating that the state is unable to defend women when incidents like these rob them of their independence, dignity, and personal space. In a society where there is a highly regarded female prime leader, why should women feel insecure?” Her column attracted readers from all around the world, and she was inundated with emails regarding it.
Women in particular praised it for its stance against the mistreatment of Indian women.She wrote a more personal essay titled “The darkness that all actors fear” in which she discussed her anxieties as an actor, her insecurities, her fame, and her followers. “Facing death in Sri Lanka and Thailand” was the subject of her fourth and final column, which detailed her two near-death experiences in late 2004.
Preity Zinta Cricket Team Ownership
In 2008, Zinta, along with Ness Wadia, Mohit Burman, and others, obtained ownership rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket team headquartered in Mohali. The team was dubbed Kings XI Punjab by the group, who spent $76 million for the franchise (it was renamed Punjab Kings in 2021).
Zinta was the youngest owner in the IPL and the only woman to hold a club till 2009. She has contributed to the team’s promotion and the start of ticket sales. “My involvement with the team is total,” she declared. I want to be there for everything because I have a strong sense of devotion to our team and I think I am their lucky charm.”
She acquired ownership of the Stellenbosch Kings franchise team in the Mzansi Super League of South Africa in September 2017. In 2021, Zinta and her Punjab Kings associates expanded their business further when they acquired Saint Lucia’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) representative squad, which was renamed as Saint Lucia Kings.
Preity Zinta Personal Life
When Zinta wasn’t filming, she would go to her hometown of Shimla. She relocated to Mumbai to live on her own in 2006. She does not identify as a member of any one religion. “I believe in good deeds, in karma, I don’t believe in going to temples,” she said in an interview with The Times of India. Religion is very personal to me.
It all comes down to faith. We’ve read and heard that there is equality among all religions. I’m starting to believe this more and more now.” Twice in late 2004, she came dangerously close to death: once during an explosion at a Temptation concert in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and again during an earthquake in the Indian Ocean.
Zinta has refuted tabloid claims that she is romantically involved with other Bollywood celebrities. Zinta started dating Marc Robinson, a model, in 2000. The next year they split up, although Zinta said they stayed friendly. Zinta dated businessman Ness Wadia, the heir apparent of Bombay Dyeing, from February 2005 to May 2009.
The media frequently covered their relationship and speculated about possible engagements or breakups. Zinta reported Ness Wadia to the Mumbai police on June 13, 2014, claiming he had harassed, threatened, and physically assaulted her during an IPL match on May 30 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Wadia refuted the accusations.
After the matter was resolved amicably, the Bombay High Court dismissed this complaint in 2018.
In a secret wedding in Los Angeles on February 29, 2016, Zinta wed her American lover Gene Goodenough. Goodenough is Senior Vice-President for Finance for the hydroelectric power firm NLine Energy, located in the United States. After the marriage, Zinta relocated to Los Angeles and makes frequent trips to India. Through surrogacy, she and her husband were able to become parents to a boy and a girl in 2021.
The media has referred to her distinctive dimple as her hallmark. During her early career, she was frequently characterised by the media as having an exuberant and lively demeanour, which she had acknowledged as being unflattering. Film reviewer Sukanya Verma claims that Zinta’s exuberance carries over from her personal life to her on-screen persona and is a crucial component of her acting style.
Regarding the comedic qualities of Hindi film heroines, Verma wrote the following about Zinta: “What can you say about an actress who laughs constantly in a tone that is anything from prim and propah? She doesn’t give a damn. She is lively. She never stops talking. She never stops laughing. She laughs in a laid-back manner. And a hint of tomboyishness too. More than all of that, Preity Zinta is. Her acting technique is greatly influenced by all of this.
She was listed as one of “Asia’s Sexiest Women” by the UK publication Eastern Eye in September 2006. Time magazine named her as a contender for their list of the 100 most powerful individuals in the world in 2010. She was the only Indian actress to receive a nomination for the poll, but she ultimately placed 144th on the final list and was not included.
But when she started to limit her roles in films, her popularity began to sharply diminish. This decline was exacerbated by the disaster that was her self-produced comeback vehicle. Film journalists who have written essays bemoaning her absence from the film industry and urging her to resume acting include Khalid Mohamed and Subhash K. Jha.
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