Preity Zinta

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Preity Zinta was born in Rohru in Shimla district in Himachal Pradesh . Her father served as an officer in the Indian Army. Her parents were involved in a fatal car acident in which her father died and her mother was severely injured and remained bedridden for two years. This incident was a turning point in the young 13 year old Preity Zinta who matured into a responsible young girl. She has an older brother Deepankar and a year younger than her brother Manish. Deepankar is an officer in the Indian Army while her younger brother Manish lives in the United States in California. Preity Zinta herself in one of her interviews described herself as a tomboy as a child though being born and raised in military background where her parents inculcated a lasting impression on her for the asserted importance of discipline and punctuality in the their three children. This impression stayed on in Preity Zinta’s life forever. Preity studied at the Convent of Jesus and Mary a boarding school in Shimla. Though she recalls her school life as being a loner and a lonely child away from home but attributes those days to be compensated by finding some of her best set of friends there. She was particularly fond of literature and the works of William Shakespeare and poetry.. She was also into sports and enjoyed Basketball. Preity Zinta graduated from the Boarding school in Sanawar from the Lawrence School at the age of 18 and enrolled herself at St. Bede’s college in Shimla with English honours degree as well as graduated in Psychology. She has earned her Post Graduation Degree in Criminal Psychology but while she was completing her post graduation she took up to modelling .

Start of her first modeling assignment. Preity Zinta’s first television commercial was for the Perk Chocolates ,which resulted with her opportunity to meet a director at a friend’s party in 1996. The director persuaded Preity to give an audition and she was selected to appear in other catalogues and commercials including her very famous advertising commercial for the Liril soap which gave the media a fresh face onscreen.

Preity Zinta a Model, a film actress, a businesswoman and a Television presenter. Her debut in the films. In 1997 Preity Zinta met Shekhar Kapur when she accompanied her friend for audition and he is said to have asked her if she would like to do an audition too. Upon seeing her audition Shekhar was very impressed and recommended her to Director Mani Ratnam for his film Dil Se which faired successfully for the storyline and her performance in this film. Following her debut she got an offer for the role in Kundan Shah’s Kya Kenha though the film had got delayed by which time she had also acted in the film Soldier but both these films were delayed and she gained popularity for her small role in the film Dil Se with Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala being in the lead roles. Her scene with Shahrukh Khan which was just a 20 minute role in the entire film in which he asks her’ Are you a virgin ?” was noticed and she had an unusual launch of a pretty face with a Preity as her name. ! She even earned a nomination for this role for the best Supporting Actress. Thereafter she played her first leading role in the film Soldier which was a commercial hit in the year 1998. She won the Filmfare Award for this film in the category of Best Female Debut for her performance as well as in the film Dil Se. Preity Zinta further acted in two Telugu films called the Premante Idera in 1998 and Raja Kumarudu in 1999 .followed by Sangharsh a thriller film in the same year directed by Tanuja Chandra and written by Mahesh Bhatt. Preity Zinta in this film portrayed a character of Reet Oberoi, A CBI officer who falls in love with the captured killer played by Akshay Kumar. Tanuja Chandra had approached her after he saw her in the film Dil Se. Sangharsh was not a box office hit but the film gave her the much deserved exposure and her performance in this film was noticed which expanded her horizon in the film Industry having received favourable comments from the critics. Preity’s breakthrough and career fluctuations Preity Zinta’s role after a short break was for the film Kya Kehna a bold and unexpected storyline in which she plays the role of a young college student Priya Bakshi who becomes pregnant teenage and is a single mother who fights the social prejudice which earned her several award nominations including her first nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare Awards. She was termed as the new breed to the Bollywood who took the lead to break away from the stereotype character. In the same year she also starred in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s film Mission Kashmir with Sanjay Dutt and Hrithik Roshan, a film set in the valley of Kashmir during the Indo-Pakistan conflicts . The film dealth with the rivalry with terrorism and crime . She played the role of a Television Reporter and her cherubic self lent a colour and vigor to the otherwise a serious film. In 2001, Preity Zinta earned laurels for her role in the Farhan Akhtar’s National Film Award winning film Dil Chahta Hai in the role of Indian affluent girl Shalini , a film focused on the modern day Urban Mumbai. The film was a super hit film for its location and the popular songs as well as the storyline that attributed to the Urban Oriented lifestyle of the three friends, Aamir Khan, Akshaye Khanna and Saif Ali Khan. Her next film was in 2001 with a release of Abbas-Mustan’s romantic Drama Chori Chori Chupke Chupke which was released a year later due to the trial and proceedings against the producer Bharat Shah.. The film was a controversial topic on surrogate childbirth. Zinta in this film plays the role of a call girl Madhubala and she is said to have visited several night clubs, bars and red light area to study their mannerisms. She received a nomination for her second best supporting actress award . She is remembered for her role from a transformation from a loud mouthed loud dressed prostitute to a sensitive and warm person with her amazing screen presence won the hearts of the audience. In 2002 Preity Zinta once again collaborated with direct Kundan Shah in a lovable sensitive role in the film Dil Hai Tumhaara with Rekha, Mahima Chaudhry, Arjun Rampal and Jimmy Shergill. She plays the role of Shalu an adopted daughter craving for love . The film did not do too well at the Box office despite a good starcast but she is said to have stolen the show with much acclaimed accolades. Preity Zinta did the three major block buster films like The Hero: Love Story of a Spy, Koi Mil Gaya and Kal Ho Naa Ho , followed by the film Armaan along with Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor. In this film she plays the role of a schizophrenic wife of Dr. Akash , a role specially written keeping her in mind She is a scene stealer for her mood swings in the film Kal Ho Na Ho due to the family setbacks and how she emerges as a lover girl. Always playing a peppy role in all her films, she plays the role of Nisha a young woman who comes in contact with an alien and befriends a mentally disabled Hrithik Roshan in this film The film won 680 millions / US $ 10 million and is considered as one of the highest grossing film . It won the Filmfare Award for the Best film among many others and went on to do sequels in part 2 and 3 , Krrish and Krrish 3 making the Krrish films taking it beyond to the next level though Preity Zinta was not a part of the sequels. In 2003 Kal Ho Naa Ho a tear jerking romantic comeo film set in the city of New York was a multi starring film with Jaya Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan, a film by Karan Johar with a love story with a twist. The film earned 750 millions or US$11 million and was again one of the top grossing films of the year. Zinta played the role of Naina an insecure angry young woman who falls in love with a man who has a fatal heart disease but who teaches her to come out of her pensive nature to fall in love. A beautiful film that is remembered by the audience. In 2004 she starred as the TV journalist in Farhan Akhtar’s film Lakshya . She is said to have played the model role of Barkha Dutt the only female reporter who covers conflicts.. The film was a critical success and her performance received mixed reviews. In the same year she did a role in Yash Chopra’s love saga Veer-Zaara opposite Shahrukh Khan and the film topped the highest grossing chart of Hindi Cinema with 940 million (US$ 14 millions) The film relates to a love story between a Pakistani woman and an Indian Army Officer. The film had a strong international release including screening of the film at the Berlin Film Festival and won several Best Movie Awards at major Indian Film Award functions. The clothes and outfits she wore in the film were a trend setter and called the Veer Zaara brand name that was a fashion for a few years.… She did a few more films following Veer Zaara which was the folk comedy Khullam Khulla Pyaar Karen starring opposite to Govinda, Salaam Namaste produced byYash Raj Films opposite to Saif Ali Khan in which she plays the role of a female protagoni st Ambar , a single modern young woman who leaves India to make a living of her own in Melborne and struggles with an unexpected pregnancy. Her role received mixed reviews. Her next successful film was Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna with an ensemble star cast that included Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukherji and Kirron Kher. The film did extremely well for its foot tapping songs and music and the film grossed at 645 million (US$ 9.4 million) and 496 million (US$ 7.4 million ) abroad as one of the biggest Bollywood block buster films in the overseas and in the Indian Cinema. The film is about two unhappily married couples living in New York and she plays the role of the ambitious Rhea Saran and plays a subtle role that was an attempt to shed her vivacious public image. She is said to have walked with poise dignity, grace and calmness in this film that set her apart on the screen and an unusual role from being a peppy fun loving girl that she has normally portrayed in her previous films. She further did films like Jaan-E-Mann, a story set in the United States about two men who fall in love with the same woman. Her role as Alvira Khan in the film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom with Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta . This film did not do well and following two failures for her commercial releases Preity Zinta tried her stint with the art film director and worked with the parallel cinema. She acted in her first English film called the Last Lear. As a struggling actress opposite to Amitabh Bachchan. The film premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and is said to have received well. Zinta’s next film was Samir Karnik’s Heroes in 2008 a movie about two final year film students who travel across North India to deliver unposted letters by the army personnel who lost their lives during he Kargil. An intense story line .