Preity Zinta

Born :- 31 January 1975


Occupation :- Actress


Career :- In 1997, Zinta met film-maker Shekhar Kapur when she accompanied a friend to an audition, and was asked if she would audition too. Upon seeing her audition, Kapur insisted that she become an actress. She was originally scheduled to make her screen debut in Kapur's Tara Rum Pum Pum opposite Hrithik Roshan, but the filming was cancelled. Kapur later recommended her for director Mani Ratnam's movie Dil Se. Zinta often recalls that when she joined the film industry, her friends teased her that she would typically "wear white saris and dance in the rain", thereby motivating her to play different parts.

Zinta commenced shooting for Kundan Shah's Kya Kehna, whose release was delayed until 2000. The delay of another film, Soldier, meant that her first release was Dil Se (1998) opposite Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala. She was introduced as Preeti Nair, a middle-class Delhi girl and Khan's fiancée. The film was considered an unusual launch for a newcomer, as her role called for only 20 minutes of screen time. However, she was eventually noticed for her role, particularly for the forthright character she played. Her scene with Khan, in which she asked him, "Are you a virgin?", became well-known, and her portrayal earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. She played her first leading role in the action-drama Soldier (1998), a commercial hit of the year. She won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for her performance in both Dil Se and Soldier.

Zinta next acted in two Telugu films, Premante Idera (1998), opposite Venkatesh; and Raja Kumarudu (1999), opposite Mahesh Babu. She followed with the leading role in the thriller Sangharsh, alongside Akshay Kumar. The film, based on The Silence of the Lambs (1991), was directed by Tanuja Chandra and written by Mahesh Bhatt. Zinta portrayed the character of Reet Oberoi, a CBI officer who falls in love with a captured killer played by Kumar. The film was not a box-office success, although Zinta's performance was appreciated by critics.

In 2007, following the failure of two of her commercial releases, Zinta began working with art film directors, and turned towards neo-realistic movies, known in India as parallel cinema. She acted in her first English film, Rituparno Ghosh's The Last Lear, as a struggling film actress opposite Amitabh Bachchan. The film premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, and was received well. Later reviews in India were approving, with Rajeev Masand writing, "Preity Zinta gets through her scenes competently, never allowing her cute-as-a-button image to take away from the impact she makes here as a conflicted, mature woman." Zinta said about her first art film, "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 starred in Samir Karnik's Heroes (2008), a road movie about two final-year film students who, as a part of their assignment, travel a thousand miles across North India to deliver three un-posted letters written by army personnel who lost their lives during the 1999 Kargil war to their families. The story unfolds the journey of these students in three chapters and follows how they meet and are inspired by the families of the soldiers. Zinta is featured in the first chapter as Salman Khan's war widow, Kuljeet Kaur, a woman who becomes the sole breadwinner of the family and single-handedly raises her son. In preparation for the role, Zinta attended Anupam Kher's acting school, "Actor Prepares", to learn the dialect and mannerisms of a Punjabi woman. The film was released to a mixed critical reaction, but her performance received rave reviews; Anand Singh of Hindustan Times wrote, "Karnik is merely interested in wringing tears the old-fashioned way, and not in starting a debate. He succeeds—mainly because Preity Zinta brings to a role a gravitas and dignity that is seen on the faces of ordinary women—this may be her coming of age as an actress."

By April 2008, Zinta had completed shooting for Jahnu Barua's drama Har Pal. In the same year she played the leading role of 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, post an arranged marriage to a non-resident Indian man from Canada, migrates to Toronto and becomes a victim of severe domestic abuse. Expressing her desire for "a new kind of acting challenge", Zinta described Mehta as one director she was longing to work with in order to fulfill it. To prepare for the part, she read and watched several books and documentaries on domestic violence. As the film was to be shot entirely in Punjabi, a language that was totally alien to her, she learnt it in a crash course of fifty days. She was emotional during the making of the film: "I never knew a character would effect me so deeply. I've become completely withdrawn and introspective... I can't snap out of the character." She eventually called it her most challenging project, as it helped her "shed everything that Preity Zinta was about." Heaven on Earth was first screened at several film festivals and, upon release, garnered career-best reviews for Zinta. Her performance earned her the Best Actress (Silver Hugo) award at the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival, for "her strong yet subtle performance as a woman struggling to keep her dreams despite brutal realities." Among other awards, she was acknowledged with Best Actress nominations at several award functions in Canada, including the Genie Award by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, and the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.

Following Heaven On Earth, Zinta took a two-year sabbatical from movies, later explaining that she had chosen to focus on her work with her cricket team. In 2011 she launched her own production company, PZNZ Media. She is set to star in the first film produced under the banner, Ishkq in Paris, a romantic comedy directed by Prem Soni. An Indo-French collaboration, the film will have Zinta portraying a half-Indian half-French Parisian woman and will co-star several Indian and French actors. Zinta's role required her to learn French and follow a strict diet and fitness regime, for which she hired the services of celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson. As of August 2011, Ishkq in Paris is slated for release on 29 June 2012.

Film-


Dil Se
Soldier
Premante Idera
Raja Kumarudu
Sangharsh
Dillagi
Kya Kehna
Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega
Mission Kashmir
Farz
Chori Chori Chupke Chupke
Dil Chahta Hai
Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke
Dil Hain Tumhaara
The Hero: Love Story Of a Spy
Armaan
Koi... Mil Gaya
Kal Ho Naa Ho
Lakshya
Dil Ne Jise Apne Kahaa
Veer Zaara
Khullam Khulla Pyaar Karen
Salaam Namaste
Alag
Krrish
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
Jaan E Mann
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
The Last Year
Om Shanti Om
Heaven on Earth
Heroes
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Main Aurr Mrs Khanna
Har Pal
Ishkq in Paris


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