Preity G Zinta (born 31 January 1975) is an Indian actress and entrepreneur who is best known for her work in Hindi films. Zinta made her acting debut in Dil Se.. in 1998, after graduating with degrees in English honours and criminal psychology. She then appeared in Soldier the following year. She won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for these performances, and she was later praised for her role as a teenage single mother in Kya Kehna (2000). She then built a career as a leading actress in Hindi cinema, playing a range of roles. Her roles, which were sometimes labelled culturally subversive, as well as her unique screen demeanor, have been credited with changing the perception of Indian film heroines and earning her multiple awards.
Zinta got the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her portrayal in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), following critically acclaimed roles in Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001), Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Dil Hai Tumhaara (2002), and Armaan (2003). She was recognised for her portrayal of independent, modern Indian women in Salaam Namaste (2005) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), both of which grossed over $100 million in India. She received the Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Genie Award for Best Actress for her first international appearance in the Canadian film Heaven on Earth (2008). She then took a break from performing for several years, with the exception of her self-produced comeback picture, Ishkq in Paris (2013), which failed to make an impression.
Zinta is also a social activist, TV host, and stage performer. She published a series of pieces for BBC News Online South Asia between 2004 and 2005. She is the creator of PZNZ Media, a co-owner of the Indian Premier League cricket franchise Punjab Kings since 2008, and a shareholder of the South African T20 Global League cricket team Stellenbosch Kings since 2017. Zinta is well-known in the Indian media for boldly stating her thoughts, which has led to the occasional dispute. Among these problems is her role as the solitary witness who refused to retract her earlier accusations against the Indian mafia in court during the 2004 Bharat Shah case, for which she received the Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Award.
Background and early life
Preity Zinta was born on January 31, 1975, into a Hindu Rajput family from the Himachal Pradesh district of Shimla. Durganand Zinta, her father, was an officer in the Indian Army. He died in a car accident when she was thirteen years old; the tragedy also implicated her mother, Nilprabha, who was severely injured and was bedridden for two years as a result. Zinta described the sad accident and the death of her father as a key turning point in her life that caused her to mature quickly. Deepankar and Manish, her two brothers, are a year older and a year younger, respectively. Manish lives in California, while Deepankar is a commissioned officer in the Indian Army.
Zinta, who characterises herself as a tomboy as a child, has stated that her father's military experience left a lasting influence on how family life should be conducted. He emphasised the value of discipline and punctuality to the pupils. She attended Shimla's Convent of Jesus and Mary boarding school. Although she admits to feeling lonely at the boarding school, she notes that this was offset by her meeting a "... perfect set of friends" there. As a student, she developed a passion for literature, particularly William Shakespeare's works and poetry. Zinta stated that she enjoyed education and had good results; in her spare time, she enjoyed sports, particularly basketball.
Zinta attended St. Bede's College in Shimla after graduating from the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Shimla. She earned an honours degree in English before enrolling in a doctorate programme in psychology. She obtained a postgraduate degree in criminal psychology before turning to modelling. Zinta's debut television commercial was for Perk chocolates, and it came about as a consequence of a chance meeting with a director at a friend's birthday party in 1996. Zinta was urged to audition for the role by the director, and she was chosen. She later appeared in catalogues and ads, including one for the detergent Liril.
Career as an actor
Also see filmography and honours.
Early roles and debut (1998-1999)
Zinta met Shekhar Kapur in 1997 when accompanying a friend to an audition in Mumbai and was asked if she would audition as well. Kapur urged on her becoming an actress after hearing her audition. She was supposed to make her feature debut in Kapur's Tara Rum Pum Pum, with Hrithik Roshan, but filming was cancelled. "I began to recognise the power of destiny," she reflected on the event. I had no intention of ever becoming an actress." Kapur later recommended her for Mani Ratnam's romantic thriller Dil Se.. (1998), about a terrorist cell in New Delhi. Zinta recalls how, when she first entered the film industry, her friends mocked her about "wearing white saris and dancing in the rain," inspiring her to take on various roles.
Zinta began filming Kundan Shah's Kya Kehna, which was delayed until 2000. Due to the postponement of another film, Soldier (1998), her first release was Dil Se.. with Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala. Preeti Nair, a middle-class Delhi girl and Khan's fiancée, was presented. Her role in the film required only twenty minutes of screen time, making it an unusual debut for a newbie. She was eventually recognised for her performance, notably for the frank persona she played. Her sequence with Khan, in which she asks him, "Are you a virgin?" became well-known, and her performance got her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Filmfare Awards. According to Khalid Mohamed of Bombay Talkies, she "radiates confidence and spunk even if she's only given scraps of footage." The film did not have a large audience in India, but it was the first Hindi film to enter the top ten box-office charts in the United Kingdom. Zinta's second release in 1998 was the action-drama Soldier, directed by Abbas-Mustan and one of the year's biggest commercial successes. She received the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for her work in both Dil Se.. and Soldier.
Following that, Zinta appeared in two Telugu films, Premante Idera (1998) and Raja Kumarudu (1999). She then starred in Sangharsh, a 1999 thriller directed by Tanuja Chandra and written by Mahesh Bhatt. Zinta plays Reet Oberoi, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigator who falls in love with Akshay Kumar's character, a captured killer. After being impressed with Zinta's performance in Dil Se..., Chandra sought her for the job after several leading actresses declined, which Zinta saw as an opportunity to broaden her range. Sangharsh was not a box-office success, despite critical praise for Zinta's performance. According to The Tribune, her performance was "an amazing act" in a "intense film," and she "wowed the audiences with her cameo in Dil Se..., then she zapped the viewers with her sensuality in Soldier, and now Preity Zinta is all set to shock everybody with her stark performance [in Sangharsh]." Subhash K. Jha remarked in 2013 that Sangharsh was a rare instance in Hindi cinema where a major male performer played a subordinate role to the starring heroine.
Breakthrough and growth in career (2000-2002)
Zinta's first role was in the 2000 drama Kya Kehna, which outperformed expectations and became a significant box office success. The film explored topics of single parenthood and adolescent pregnancy, and it helped Zinta acquire public and critical acclaim. Her portrayal in Priya Bakshi, a teenage single mother fighting social prejudice, got her multiple award nominations, including her first Filmfare Award nomination for Best Actress. According to Anupama Chopra of India Today, Zinta belonged to a new breed of Hindi film actors that deviated from character cliches. That year, she received further great praise for her main part in the romantic comedy Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega. She next starred in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's drama Mission Kashmir (2000), alongside Sanjay Dutt and Hrithik Roshan. The film, set in the Kashmir valley during the Indo-Pakistani hostilities, dealt with terrorism and criminality; it was a financial triumph, being the year's third-highest-grossing release in India. Sufiya Parvez, a TV reporter and Roshan's childhood love, was played by Zinta. A review in The Hindu praised her for bringing colour to an otherwise severe subject matter, and she expressed similar feelings about the character, saying its uplifting element inside the sombre picture as what drew her to it.
Zinta co-starred in the action thriller Farz opposite Sunny Deol in 2001. Critics panned her performance, and the film failed commercially. After a one-year delay owing to producer Bharat Shah's trial, Abbas-Mustan's family drama Chori Chori Chupke Chupke was released later that year to a large audience. It was one of the first Hindi films to examine the contentious issue of surrogate births, starring Zinta as Madhubala, a sweet-natured prostitute employed as a surrogate mother. She was initially hesitant to portray the role, but eventually agreed after the directors persuaded her. To prepare for it, she visited many pubs and nightclubs in Mumbai's red-light districts to study the terminology and mannerisms of sex-workers. The film received mixed reviews, although critics singled out Zinta for appreciation. She received a second Filmfare Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal, which reviewer Sukanya Verma praised, writing, "Preity Zinta, who clearly has the meatiest part of all, makes the best of it." Her journey from confident and unashamed prostitute to sensitive and caring person is quite convincing."
Zinta appeared in two more films in 2001, including Farhan Akhtar's coming-of-age drama Dil Chahta Hai. It centres on a period of transition in the lives of three young friends (Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Akshaye Khanna) and depicts the daily regular life of Indian affluent youth. Zinta plays Shalini, Aamir Khan's love interest, who is troubled about her impending, loveless marriage. Dil Chahta Hai was well-received by critics, who thought it broke new ground with its extraordinarily realistic depiction of India's metropolitan atmosphere. It won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film and Best Feature Film in Hindi at the 49th National Film Awards. It was a minor box-office success in India, performing well in the big cities but failing in the rural areas, which trade analysts attributed to the city-oriented lifestyle it showed. Dinesh Raheja praised Zinta's "casual and appealing acting," while Sita Menon called her "beautiful and vibrant, vacillating between endearingly naive and confused." Deepak Shivdasani's Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke, a romance drama co-starring Ajay Devgn and Madhuri Dixit, was a commercial and critical flop.
Zinta worked with filmmaker Kundan Shah again in 2002, as the protagonist in the family drama Dil Hai Tumhaara, starring Rekha, Mahima Chaudhry, and Arjun Rampal. She portrayed Shalu, an adopted daughter in search of love, a part with which she identified owing to its rebellious nature. Dil Hai Tumhaara, billed as Zinta's star vehicle, failed financially, although her portrayal was universally praised by critics, with those who panned the film citing her presence as its main highlight. According to Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama, "... Preity Zinta, in an author-backed part... steals the show with a superb performance... This is a performance that will undoubtedly get praise from the junta and critics."
(2003-2007) Established actress
Zinta starred in three of India's top-grossing films in 2003: The Hero: Love Story of a Spy, Koi... Mil Gaya, and Kal Ho Naa Ho. The Hero, starring Sunny Deol and Priyanka Chopra, is an action film about a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) secret agent sent on an assignment to gather intelligence on terrorist activity over the Kashmir border. Zinta played Reshma, a Kashmiri villager who falls in love with the agent and joins the network. The film, which featured stunts never before seen in Bollywood cinema, became the most expensive Hindi film ever produced at the time. Despite being the third-highest-grossing film of the year, it was deemed a failure due to its exorbitant production expenses. She then appeared in Honey Irani's directorial debut, Armaan, which is set in a hospital and follows the travails of its staff and its principal, Dr. Akash (Anil Kapoor), who works tirelessly to keep the institution financially afloat. Zinta portrayed Akash's schizophrenic wife, Sonia Kapoor, in a part written just for her and regarded her best to that date. The film garnered mostly positive reviews, with Zinta receiving special appreciation. Vinayak Chakravorty stated, "As Sonia, Preity takes over the script and, indeed, the film, unleashing a brilliant act as the deceptively bubbly but manipulative wife." Khalid Mohamed dubbed her a "peppy scene-stealer, achieving her manic mood swings dexterously." She was nominated for Best portrayal in a Negative Role at several award ceremonies, including Filmfare, for her portrayal.
Following that was Rakesh Roshan's science-fiction picture Koi... Mil Gaya, about a developmentally handicapped young man (Hrithik Roshan) who meets an alien. The Times of India praised Zinta's portrayal as Nisha, a young woman whom Roshan befriends and falls in love with. Empire magazine dubbed the film "the most novel Bollywood film of the year," and it went on to become India's most popular picture of the year, grossing $680 million domestically (equivalent to 2.1 billion or US$27 million in 2020). It spawned two superhero sequels, Krrish and Krrish 3, making it the first in the Krrish film series, which Zinta did not continue. Nikhil Advani's love drama Kal Ho Naa Ho, set in New York City, stars Zinta as Naina Catherine Kapur, an insecure and angry Indian-American who falls for a guy with a terminal heart ailment (Shah Rukh Khan). The film grossed over 750 million (equivalent to 2.3 billion or US$29 million in 2020) globally, making it the year's second-biggest hit after Koi... Mil Gaya in India and the top-grossing Hindi film worldwide. Kal Ho Naa Ho was well welcomed by critics, with Ram Kamal Mukherjee of Stardust claiming that it was entirely due to Zinta's "astounding performance," noting that she "skillfully handled the hues of the complex character." Zinta had two Best Actress nominations at the 49th Filmfare Awards: one for Koi... Mil Gaya, which was chosen Best Film, and another for Kal Ho Naa Ho, which she won, in addition to honours from other organisations such as IIFA and Stardust.
In 2004, Zinta co-starred with Hrithik Roshan in Farhan Akhtar's war drama Lakshya as TV journalist Romila Dutta. The film is based on the 1999 Kargil War, and Zinta's character is modelled after Barkha Dutt, the only female journalist who covered the fight. She described it as the most difficult film she had ever worked on, and it taught her to appreciate journalists. She watched a number of Dutt's television broadcasts and read books about the struggle to offer a realistic portrayal. Although the film was a critical success, her performance was met with mixed reactions; Outlook's Namrata Joshi compared her to "a teenybopper trying to do a TV newsreading skit for her college fest," and Rediff.com's Rajeev Pai observed that, despite a good part, she only "does a fairly decent job of it without ever being spectacular." Lakshya failed to attract an audience, earning only 235.6 million (US$3.0 million) against a budget of 330 million (US$4.1 million).
Yash Chopra was looking for an actress whose "look and personality could be transformed" for the starring role in his cross-border romance Veer-Zaara (2004). He cast Zinta in the title part of Zaara Haayat Khan, a fiery Pakistani woman whose love affair with Indian officer Veer Pratap Singh (Shah Rukh Khan) spans three decades amid trials and tribulations, having spotted this chance in Zinta, who was primarily renowned for playing westernised characters. The film had a significant worldwide release, including a screening at the Berlin worldwide Film Festival, and was selected Best Film at major Indian award ceremonies. It was the top-earning Hindi film in both India and outside that year, grossing over $940 million (equal to 2.8 billion or US$35 million in 2020). Zinta's role demanded that she understand the subtleties of the Urdu language. Though initially excited, she eventually "got knots in her stomach" over her performance, but Chopra reassured her. Her efforts earned her a fourth Filmfare Best Actress nomination, among many others. Jitesh Pillai praised her "tremendous restraint," and Avijit Ghosh of The Telegraph agreed that she had given her most subtle portrayal ever. Variety's Derek Elley called her "the most interesting young actress of her generation." Veer-Zaara was Zinta's second highest-grossing film and her third huge hit in two years.
Zinta co-starred with Govinda in the 2005 folk comedy Khullam Khulla Pyaar Karen, which had been in the works since 2002. Subhash K. Jha deemed Zinta's work incompatible with her screen image and acting style, and the film received bad reviews and dismal box office results. That year, critics and moviegoers praised Siddharth Anand's comedy-drama Salaam Namaste, in which Zinta and Saif Ali Khan played a modern cohabiting Indian couple in Australia grappling with an unexpected pregnancy. Yash Raj Films produced it on a large budget, and it became the year's highest-grossing Indian production outside of India and overall third-highest-grossing Hindi film, earning $572 million (equivalent to 1.7 billion or US$21 million in 2020). Zinta was nominated for several Best Actress awards for her performance as Ambar Malhotra, a single modern young woman who leaves India to establish her own life in Melbourne, where she works as a radio DJ while studying medicine. Mid-Day's Devyani Srivastava called Ambar's independent, strong-willed character a rare Hindi film heroine, while Taran Adarsh said Zinta gave "her most accomplished performance to date." The New York Times' Anita Gates observed Ambar's negative tones but appreciated Zinta's upbeat nature, which allows her to stay likeable even when her characters exhibit uncharitable tendencies.
Zinta found new fame in 2006, when she co-starred in Karan Johar's drama Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna with Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Abhishek Bachchan, and Amitabh Bachchan. The film became one of India's biggest box-office hits, grossing over 635 million (equivalent to 1.7 billion or US$22 million in 2020) and over 496 million (equivalent to 1.4 billion or US$17 million in 2020) abroad—the biggest Bollywood success of all time in the overseas market up until then. It was Zinta's fourth top-earning international performance in four years. The film, set in New York and centred on two unhappy married couples, starred Zinta as Rhea Saran, an ambitious fashion magazine editor whose husband initiates an adulterous affair with a family acquaintance. She described the role as an attempt to lose her outgoing public persona. The Indian Express praised Zinta's performance in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, saying she "walked with poise, sat with grace, smiled with composure, and spoke with calmness." Other critics questioned her role's brief duration. Later, Filmfare and Verve praised the character for defying clichés of married women on screen in Hindi films.
Zinta then starred in Shirish Kunder's 2006 love musical Jaan-E-Mann. She portrayed Piya, the American cynosure of two men (Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar). The film received mixed reviews from reviewers and earned a low box office profit. Despite receiving primarily negative feedback for playing a minor role, she was praised for her performance and attractiveness. She described Jaan-E-Mann as "easy, happy, and much more simple" than the more emotionally charged Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Her second role as British Pakistani woman Alvira Khan in her third production with Yash Raj Films, the comedy Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007), co-starring Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, and Lara Dutta, was even less successful. In India, the film was a commercial flop, and critics criticised her portrayal; The Times of India called her "too plastic," while Rediff.com concluded, "From accent to emotion, Preity is plain and simple insufferable in this film."
Professional development (2007-2008)
Following the failure of two of her commercial movies, Zinta chose to branch out into art films, a neo-realistic film movement known in India as parallel cinema. Rituparno Ghosh's film-within-a-film drama The Last Lear (2007), in which she co-starred with Amitabh Bachchan, was her debut English-language feature. Zinta played Shabnam, a struggling cinema actress working on a new production opposite Shakespearean actor Harish Mishra (Bachchan) while dealing with a troubled marriage. The film had a successful premiere at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. Later reviews in India praised her performance, with Rajeev Masand saying that she "gets through her scenes competently, never allowing her cute-as-a-button image to detract from the impact she makes here as a conflicted, mature woman." Sukanya Verma saw Zinta as "palpably vulnerable," although she criticised the English language for diverting her from "the seriousness of the situation." At the 55th National Film Awards, The Last Lear was selected Best English Film. Zinta, who was initially critical of art films, finally talked favourably about her experience with them, admitting, "I did think with art films that they don't pay you, they don't feed you, but I was wrong, and I'm so happy to be here."
Zinta next appeared in Samir Karnik's Heroes (2008), a three-chapter road movie about two film students who journey throughout North India as part of an assignment to deliver three un-posted letters written by army members who died during the 1999 Kargil conflict to their families. Zinta appears in the first chapter as Salman Khan's battle widow, Kuljeet Kaur, a woman who becomes the family's only earner and raises her son on her own. Zinta trained at Anupam Kher's "Actor Prepares" acting school to learn the dialect and mannerisms of a Punjabi woman in preparation for the part. The film garnered mixed reviews, although her performance was praised; Anand Singh of the Hindustan Times commented, "Karnik is merely interested in wringing tears the old-fashioned way, and not in starting a debate." He succeeds mostly because Preity Zinta brings gravitas and elegance to a character that is rarely seen on the faces of common women; this may be her coming of age as an actress."
In the same year, she starred as Chand in Deepa Mehta's Canadian film Heaven on Earth, a Punjabi-language mystical drama based on the true story of a young Indian woman who migrates to Toronto after an arranged marriage with a non-resident Indian man from Canada and becomes a victim of severe domestic abuse. Zinta characterised Mehta as a filmmaker she wished to collaborate with in order to meet her ambition for "a new kind of acting challenge." To prepare for the role, she researched domestic abuse extensively and took a crash course in Punjabi, a language that was completely foreign to her. She admitted that she couldn't emotionally separate herself from the character while filming: "I never knew a character could affect me so deeply." I've entirely retreated and become introspective... "I can't seem to get out of the character." She eventually referred to it as her most difficult project since it assisted her in "shedding everything that Preity Zinta was about." Heaven on Earth premiered at numerous film festivals, where Zinta received career-high praise. Variety's Peter Debruge praised her "stunning psychological transformation" in the role, and Will Sloan called her "a revelation." At the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival, she received the Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress for "her strong yet subtle performance as a woman struggling to keep her dreams despite brutal realities." She was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Actress as well.
Hiatus and sporadic returns (2009-present)
Following the release of Heaven on Earth, Zinta took a two-year hiatus from movies, subsequently claiming that she wanted to focus on her work with her cricket team. PZNZ Media, her own production firm, was founded in 2011. She starred in her debut film under the banner, the Prem Raj-directed romantic comedy Ishkq in Paris, which she also co-wrote, two years later and after multiple delays. Zinta starred in the Indo-French cooperation as a half-Indian, half-French Parisian woman opposite Rhehan Malliek and Isabelle Adjani. Zinta's job required her to learn French as well as adhere to a strict diet and fitness regimen, for which she recruited celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson. While the movie underperformed at the box office and earned generally unfavourable reviews, Zinta's performance received mixed reviews. Sify's Sonia Chopra described her as "hugely likeable," adding that she is a "good actress, astute producer, and... writer." Shilpa Jamkhandikar of Deccan Herald finished a scathing assessment by labelling the film "a mediocre film, one that was supposed to showcase one of our favourite leading ladies, but instead just shows us what a shadow of her past she's become."
Following a five-year hiatus, Zinta appeared in Neeraj Pathak's action comedy Bhaiaji Superhit (2018) as an aggressive Varanasi-based wife opposite Sunny Deol. The film, according to Ajit Duara of Open magazine, is a "rude, sexist, and completely mixed-up farce," and the "once vivacious [Zinta] appears completely disinterested in her surroundings and in her co-actors." Zinta appeared alongside Vir Das in an episode of the American sitcom Fresh Off the Boat titled "The Magic Motor Inn" in 2020; she was set to reprise her role in a spin-off series centred on her character's family, but ABC announced in June that the spin-off would not be moving forward.
Other assignments
Writing columns
Zinta joined a group of South Asian commentators for BBC News Online in 2004. "I am pretty outspoken and have my own view on every subject, so it will be a good platform for me to air my views," she said of her participation in the project. Her first column, "The changing face of Bollywood," published in January 2004, discussed the evolution of Bollywood over the previous decade. The piece quickly became one of the top 10 most-read stories of the day on the site. Zinta examined and attacked the eve teasing phenomena in India in her second column, "Odds stacked against Indian women." "Incidents like these take away a woman's dignity, space, and freedom... why is the state so helpless in protecting women... why should women feel unsafe in a country with an internationally revered woman prime minister?" she wrote. The column drew thousands of e-mails from readers around the world. It was praised, particularly by women, for standing up to maltreatment of Indian women. Her third column, "The darkness that all actors fear," was a more personal piece in which she discussed her celebrity, fans, insecurities, and worries as an actor. Her final piece, "Facing Death in Sri Lanka and Thailand," chronicled two near-death experiences she had in late 2004.
Television hosting and stage performances
Zinta has appeared in a number of theatrical plays and globe tours since 2001. Her first international tour, "Craze 2001," featured performances by Anil Kapoor, Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai, and Gracy Singh across the United States. Due to the 11 September 2001 attacks, the event was cancelled early, and the team planned to return to India as soon as possible. However, the programmes were a success in Canada. She appeared in the UK television show "From India With Love" in 2002, alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Aishwarya Rai. With almost 100,000 spectators, it was held at two outdoor sites, Manchester's Old Trafford and London's Hyde Park.
Zinta took part in the "Temptation 2004" tour with Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Saif Ali Khan, Arjun Rampal, and Priyanka Chopra. It became Bollywood's most significant overseas concert, having been showcased in over 22 countries around the world. Zinta took part in the "Heat 2006" world tour in 2006, alongside Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Sushmita Sen, and Celina Jaitley. Zinta performed with the Bachchan family and Ritesh Deshmukh in "The Unforgettable Tour" (2008), a forty-day show held in eleven cities across North America, Europe, and the Caribbean. Zinta returned to the stage in December 2012 for the "Temptation Reloaded" event in Jakarta, where she was joined by Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, and Bipasha Basu.
Zinta made her television debut in 2011 as the anchor of Colors Channel's Guinness World Records - Ab India Todega. The show, an Indian version of the Guinness Book of World Records, launched on March 18 to an audience measurement of 3.3 rating points, placing it sixth on the ranking of celebrity-driven reality shows on Hindi entertainment channels. Critic Rachana Dubey wrote in a four-star review for Hindustan Times, "Preity is a riot. She's vivacious and knows exactly when she needs to be serious and when she can crack jokes." Later that year, Zinta began hosting the celebrity-based chat show Up Close & Personal with PZ, which was shot at her own penthouse in Mumbai and broadcast on the newly launched channel UTV Stars. On September 3, the first episode aired. Zinta appeared as a talent judge on the sixth season of the dance reality programme Nach Baliye in 2015.
Humanitarian efforts
Throughout her career in the film industry, Zinta has been active with various philanthropic organisations and has been particularly supportive of women's problems in India, such as campaigning against female infanticide. She has also taken part in AIDS awareness initiatives and clean-up campaigns in Mumbai.
Zinta, along with other Bollywood stars, took part in the 2005 "HELP! Telethon Concert" to raise funds for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Zinta attended a blood donation camp held by the Rotary Club of Delhi and the Godfrey Phillips Awards the next year as an ambassador of the Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Movement. She advocated for women's empowerment and encouraged others to donate blood. "Donating blood does not kill anyone, but it does save someone's life," she explained. "Once blood is donated, it becomes universal and can be used by anyone in need, regardless of community, caste, or region; it brings people together."
Zinta visited Hisar, Haryana, in 2007 as part of the NDTV show Jai Jawan, where she spent a day at the army training base to bolster the morale of the jawan troops and met youngsters with disabilities at an army-run special school. Zinta collaborated with Mumbai-based artist Gurcharan Singh in August to paint for the non-governmental group Khushi in support of street children. In December, she joined the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's (UNODC) efforts to combat human trafficking in India. She advocated for more knowledge of the practice, as well as protection and rehabilitation for individuals rescued from it, as well as punishment for perpetrators. On her 34th birthday in 2009, Zinta adopted 34 girls from the Mother Miracle orphanage in Rishikesh and assumed financial responsibility for their education, food, and clothes. She expressed her delight at the opportunity and reiterated her whole dedication to their upbringing.
Zinta was named the brand ambassador of The Loomba Trust, an institution that aims to improve the lives of widows and their children, in January 2010. She claimed that because she had lost her father when she was thirteen, she understood the difficulties encountered by widowed women. Later that year, she became a Goodwill Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in India, where she promoted public awareness about HIV prevention, treatment, and support, with a focus on women and children, and fought discrimination against it. In her acceptance speech, Zinta highlighted her desire to be "the voice for the voiceless" and to bring about a "transformation in the minds of people" through collaborative effort. Zinta received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of East London in October 2010. It was given to her in recognition of both her cultural and humanitarian contributions, with the citation characterising her as "an international actress, pioneering star of Hindi cinema, and devoted humanitarian. Preity has carved a path for women to follow."
Cricket team ownership
Zinta, along with Ness Wadia, Mohit Burman, and others, purchased ownership rights to the Mohali-based Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket franchise in 2008. The consortium spent $76 million for the franchise and dubbed it Kings XI Punjab (the team was renamed Punjab Kings in 2021). Zinta was the league's youngest owner and the only woman to own an IPL club until 2009. She has helped to initiate ticket sales and promote the team. "I am extremely passionate about our team, and I do believe that I am the team's good luck factor, so I want to be there for everything," she said. In September 2017, she became the owner of the Stellenbosch Kings franchise team in South Africa's Mzansi Super League. In 2021, Zinta and her Punjab Kings partners purchased Saint Lucia's representative team in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which was rebranded as Saint Lucia Kings.
Private life
When she wasn't filming, Zinta would visit her hometown of Shimla. She moved into her own home in Mumbai in 2006. She does not identify with any religious group. In an interview with The Times of India, she said, "I believe in good deeds, in karma, I don't believe in going to temples. For me, religion is very personal. It's all about having faith... We have heard and read that all religions are equal. Now I am increasingly believing in this."
Zinta has been embroiled in a number of scandals. She testified against the Indian mafia as a witness in the Bharat Shah case in 2003. Bharat Shah, the financier of Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, was arrested in 2000 for having ties to Mumbai underworld chief Chhota Shakeel. Unlike some of her colleagues, Zinta stated in court that she had received extortion threats from the mafia while filming the film. Following her evidence, she was granted witness protection and ordered to remain out of the public eye for two months. Thirteen additional witnesses, including superstars Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan, testified before her but afterwards recanted their testimony. Zinta was the sole witness who did not turn hostile to the prosecution; the public applauded her conduct. As a result, she was the first person to receive Godfrey's Mind of Steel Award at the annual Red and White Bravery Awards, which she received for her "courageous act" of standing up to the Mumbai Underworld. "To be brave is not to be fearless. It is when you fear and get over it that you can be called brave," she said upon receiving the award. "I am human. It is not that I fear nothing. But getting over a fear is a continuous process and I have been successful so far."
The tabloids have frequently associated Zinta romantically with other Bollywood actors, but she has categorically denied any such claims. Zinta began dating model Marc Robinson in 2000. They divorced the following year and stayed on excellent terms, according to Zinta. From February 2005 to May 2009, Zinta dated Bombay Dyeing heir and businessman Ness Wadia. The media frequently reported on their relationship, with constant speculation about an engagement or a break-up. On June 13, 2014, Zinta filed a complaint with the Mumbai police against Ness Wadia, stating that he raped, intimidated, and assaulted her during an IPL match at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on May 30. Wadia disputed the charges. After an amicable resolution, the Bombay High Court dismissed this complaint in 2018.
Zinta married her American partner Gene Goodenough in a private wedding in Los Angeles on February 29, 2016. Goodenough is the Senior Vice President of Finance for NLine Energy, a hydroelectric power firm established in the United States. Zinta moved to Los Angeles after her marriage, although she still visits India on a regular basis. Through surrogacy, she and her husband became parents to twins, a boy and a girl, in 2021.
Artistry and media image
Zinta is well-known in the Indian media for her forthright demeanour and honesty in voicing her ideas in public, whether about her on-screen or off-screen life or speaking out against social injustice. While she does not feel she is "as tough as people portray her to be," she claims she has no qualms about voicing her thoughts, even in the face of overwhelming opposition, as long as she is "by what's right." These characteristics were recognised during the Bharat Shah case, when she testified against the underworld; as a result of this episode, she was frequently referred to by journalists as "the only man in Bollywood," a moniker she disliked due to its underlying misogynist overtones. Amitabh Bachchan praised her "drive and guts in a world that can be most cruel to a single girl," calling her "frank and painfully honest." While applauding her for filing a molestation complaint against Ness Wadia in 2014, author and columnist Shobhaa De expressed concern about Zinta's repeated quest for justice, believing it could eventually work against her: "India is not terribly kind to strong-willed, outspoken women who are dubbed 'trouble makers' if they dare to raise their voices, especially against men. Zinta is such a woman."
Her distinctive dimple has been dubbed her trademark by the media. At the start of her career, the press frequently labelled her as having a vibrant personality and a bubbly, outgoing persona, an image she had admitted to despising. According to film critic Sukanya Verma, Zinta's lively personality carries over from her actual life to her screen persona and is an essential aspect of her approach. "What can you say about an actress who giggles non-stop in a tone that is anything but prim and propah? She is carefree. She is animated. She talks non-stop. She laughs all the time. She has a chilled out sense of humour. And a tomboyish streak too. Preity Zinta is all that and more. All this greatly contributes to her style of acting," Verma wrote of Zinta.
Tanuja Chandra attributed Zinta's screen appeal to her lack of acting pretense, saying, "She doesn't act, she's so real that you just can't look away from her." Vinayak Chakravorty wrote in his review of Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001) for Hindustan Times that "there is an admirable zest that Preity pumps into every role she does." Farhan Akhtar, who directed her in two films, believes she is an actress who "can mould herself - the way she speaks, works, and her body language - and adapt herself to roles," while Vidhu Vinod Chopra (director of the 2000 film Mission Kashmir) credits her with the ability to "make the viewer believe even in the most convoluted situation."
Zinta was recognised for her versatility and gained a reputation for playing roles that go against Indian traditional mores after portraying characters in Sangharsh (1999), Kya Kehna (2000), Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001), Salaam Namaste (2005), and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006). Critics recognised these roles as helping to develop a new image for Indian screen women by deviating from typical roles previously played by star actresses in mainstream Hindi films. According to Karan Johar, she is a "new-wave actress" who has the advantage of working at a period when "films portray a woman who knows her mind." The similarities between Zinta's public image as an independent and opinionated lady and her culturally defiant persona in Salaam Namaste are noted by author Monika Mehta. Zinta "resists patriarchal constraints through her modern lifestyle and the controversial roles she chooses," according to Jennifer Thomas, who examined Zinta's roles for a chapter in the book Once Upon a Time in Bollywood (2007).
Zinta is one of India's most well-known celebrities; at her peak, she was one of Hindi cinema's most recognised stars, and she was recognised for having achieved a career in the film industry without any traditional aid or family ties. She was on Box Office India's top actress list for seven years, and she was first for two years in a row (2003-2004). Zinta ranked first on Rediff.com's list of "Top Bollywood Female Stars" in 2003. For the next three years, she was ranked second. She has been on numerous Rediff.com lists, including "Bollywood's Most Beautiful Actresses", "Bollywood's Best Dressed Women" and "Women of Many Faces". Zinta attended the Cannes Film Festival three times in a row between 2006 and 2008. She first attended the 2006 Film Festival alongside filmmaker Karan Johar to represent the Hindi film industry and promote Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, subsequently returning as a brand ambassador for Chopard, a luxury watch and jewellery manufacturer.
Eastern Eye, a UK magazine, named her one of "Asia's Sexiest Women" in September 2006. Time magazine chose her as one of the nominees for its list of the world's 100 most influential people in 2010. She was the only Indian actress nominated for the poll, however she did not make the final cut, finishing 144th. This was followed by a significant drop in her popularity when she limited her film employment, which was exacerbated by the failure of her self-produced comeback vehicle. Film journalists such as Khalid Mohamed and Subhash K. Jha have penned essays lamenting her absence from the screen and urging her to return to acting.
| Bio | |
| Full Name | Preity G Zinta |
| Profession(s) | Actress, Producer, Writer, Entrepreneur |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height (approx.) | in centimeters- 162 cm in meters- 1.62 m in Feet Inches- 5' 4" |
| Weight (approx.) | in Kilograms- 52 Kg in Pounds- 114 lbs |
| Figure Measurements (approx.) | 32-26-32 |
| Eye Colour | Light Brown |
| Hair Colour | Brown |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 31 January 1975 |
| Age (as of 2023) | 48 Years |
| Birthplace | Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India |
| Zodiac sign | Aquarius |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Hometown | Rohru, Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), India |
| School | Convent of Jesus and Mary boarding school, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh The Lawrence School, Sanawar, Solan, Himachal Pradesh |
| College | St. Bede's College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh |
| Educational Qualifications | Graduate (English honours) Postgraduate (Criminal Psychology) |
| Debut | Dil Se.. (1998) |
| Family | Father- Late Durganand Zinta (army officer) Mother- Nilprabha Zinta Sister- None Brothers- Deepankar Zinta (elder, army officer), Manish Zinta (younger, lives in California) |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Caste | Kshatriya (Rajput) |
| Address (Fan mail address) | C/10A, Ranwar, Waroda Road Bandra (west), Mumbai |
| Best Friends | Hrithik Roshan, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Rani Mukerji |
| Hobbies | Dancing, working out at gym, Reading, Writing |
| Likes & Dislikes | Likes: Nature's beauty Dislikes: Waking up early in the morning |
| Favourite Things | |
| Actor | Guru Dutt, Sanjay Dutt, Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan |
| Film | Titanic |
| Food | Kadhi Chawal, khatti Himachali dal |
| Perfume Brand | Valentino and Roberto Cavalli |
| Destination | Greece, New Zealand, Vienna |
| Colour | Electric blue |
| Perfume | Gucci's Envy |
| Boys, Affairs and More | |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Husband | Gene Goodenough |
| Marriage Date | 28 February, 2016 |
| Children | Jai Zinta Goodenough & Gia Zinta Goodenough (twins born on 18 November 2021 through surrogacy) |
| Style Quotient | |
| Cars collection | Lexus LX 470 |
| Money Factor | |
| Salary | Per Movie: 2-3 Crores (INR) |
| Net Worth | $30 million |
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