Preity Zinta
Preity Zinta was born on January 31st, 1975 in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. Her father, Durganand, was an officer in the Indian Army and her mother, Nilprabha is a homemaker. When she was 13 years old her parents were involved in a car accident which killed her father and left her mother bedridden for almost two years. This led to her and her two brothers Deepankar and Manish being sent to the Convent of Jesus and Mary boarding school in Shimla. Upon graduating from18, Zinta enrolled at St Bede's College. She graduated from college with an English honours degree, and later earned a postgraduate degree in criminal psychology. Despite her academic success Zinta decided to pursue a career in modelling, a decision that paid off when she landed her first television commercial for Perk chocolates following a chance meeting at a birthday party in 1996. This led to several more jobs in fashion catalogues and television commercials before she was named as the coveted wet and cool model in the Liril soap adverts. Career Highlights In 1997, Zinta met filmmaker Shekhar Kapur who wanted to cast her in his film Tara Rum Pum Pum opposite Hrithik Roshan, but the filming was cancelled. Shortly after Kapur recommended her to fellow director Mani Ratnam for his upcoming movie Dil Se. Ratnam was also impressed with Zinta and cast her in her debut role in 1998. She played Preeti a westernized bride to be who’s intended husband is also being pursued by a member of a terrorist group plotting to assassinate the prime minister. Despite being a box office failure in India, the film was a success overseas especially in the United Kingdom where it became the first Indian film to enter the box office Top 10. The film was also praised by the critics and won two National Film Awards and six Filmfare Awards. Zinta was next seen in the action drama Soldier playing a spoilt rich daughter of a corrupt army official who falls in love with a man on the run. The film was far more successful at the box office than her debut and saw her receive many positive reviews from the critics. Her last appearance of the year was in the Telugu language film Premante Idera. The following year she won the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award for her performance in both Dil Se and Soldier and received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress Award for the former. Zinta’s biggest hit of 1999 came when she was cast alongside Bollywood action hero Akshay Kumar in the crime thriller Sangharsh. The film, directed by Tanuja Chandra, follows a similar plot to the Academy Award winning Hollywood film The Silence of the Lambs. Zinta played the role of CBI trainee Reet Oberoi, the role played by Jodie Foster in the Hollywood version, who enlists the help of a prisoner (Kumar) in order to catch a child killer. The film was only a moderate performer at the box office, although Zinta's performance was again appreciated by critics. The same year she appeared in her second Telugu language film Raja Kumarudu and made a guest appearance in the Deol brothers movie Dillagi. Her first release in 2000 was the hit drama Kya Kehna, directed by Kundan Shah. Her performance as a single teenage mother, a taboo subject in India, who fights social prejudice was extremely well received by the critics and cinema goers alike. The movie went on to be one of the highest grossing of the year and earned her several award nominations, including her first nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare Awards. Later that year, she starred in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's war drama Mission Kashmir alongside Sanjay Dutt and Hrithik Roshan. Set during the Indo-Pakistani conflicts in the disputed Kashmir Valley she plays the role of Sufiya Parvez, a TV reporter who is manipulated by Roshan’s character in his attempt to assassinate the Indian Prime Minister. Mission Kashmir became the third highest grossing film of the year. Zinta also showed her versatility by appearing in the romantic comedy Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega in 2000.
In 2001 Zinta appeared in one of the most controversial movies ever released in India, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke. The movie itself dealt with another taboo subject with Zinta’s character, a prostitue named Madhu, agreeing to a surrogate birth for a high society couple played by Salman Khan and Rani Mukerji. Her performance earned her a second nomination for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. Later that year the CBI discovered the movie was funded by the Mumbai underworld, which has resulted in a well publicised Bharat Shah Case. The case saw Zinta appear in court to testify she had received extortion threats from the mafia during the shooting of the film. After her testimony, she was given witness protection and was forced to stay out of the public eye for two months. The same year Zinta earned positive reviews for her role in Farhan Akhtar's National Film Award winning Dil Chahta Hai. Set in the affluent area of modern day urban Mumbai, she starred as Aamir Khan's love interest, Shalini. Although the film was met with widespread critical acclaim it was only a average performer at the box office, which was attributed by the producers to the city oriented lifestyle depicted in the movie meaning more rural areas were somewhat alienated. In 2002, Zinta collaborated with director Kundan Shah for the second time in her only movie of the year, the drama Dil Hai Tumhaara. Alongside Rekha, Mahima Chaudhry and Arjun Rampal, she starred as Shalu a precocious adopted daughter desperate to be loved by her mother like she was her own. The film performed poorly at the Indian box office, however Zinta's emotional performance was praised by the critics and earned her nominations at a number of award ceremonies including Best Actress at the Star Screen Awards. Her first appearance of 2003 came in the action thriller The Hero: Love Story of a Spy, alongside Sunny Deol and debutant Priyanka Chopra. Zinta played the part of Reshma, a small village girl who becomes part of a spy network tracking a terrorist organization. The film was a big hit with cinema goers largely thanks to the special effects and stunts, rarely seen in Indian films, that made it the most expensive Hindi film ever produced. Her second appearance of the year was also her first villainous role playing Anil Kapoor’s schizophrenic wife Sonia in the hospital based drama Armaan. She received a Filmfare nomination for Best Villain but lost out to Irrfan Khan. This was followed by the years most successful movie and her own highest grossing movie to date, Koi... Mil Gaya. The science fiction thriller saw her play the role of Nisha, a young woman who befriends a scientist, played by Rakesh Roshan, who is mocked by his peers when he claims he has created a computer capable of contacting aliens. With a domestic total of Rs 489 million, it won the Best Movie at the Filmfare awards where Zinta was also nominated for the Best Actress Award. She won the award but it was for the performance she gave in her final movie of the year, Kal Ho Naa Ho. The romantic drama, set in New York City, saw Zinta in the role of Naina, an insecure and angry young Indian American woman who falls in love with a man who has terminal heart disease. The movie became the second biggest hit of the year domestically as well as becoming India's biggest grossing film of the year overseas, earning over Rs 600 million worldwide. She also won the Best Actress award at the IIFA Awards and the Stardust Star of the Year Award for her performance. In 2004 Zinta starred in her second war drama, Lakshya, directed by Farhan Akhtar. The film was partly based on the historical events of the 1999 Kargil Conflict between India and Pakistan. Her character, Romila Dutta, was based on the TV journalist Barkha Dutt, the only female reporter assigned to cover the events of the conflict. The movie was well received by the critics and won The Filmfare Best Cinematography Award. Later that year she was cast with Shahrukh Khan as a pair of star crossed lovers in Veer-Zaara. For her portrayal of Zaara, a Pakistani girl who falls in love with a Indian Air Force officer, Zinta received her fourth Filmfare Best Actress nomination and won the Stardust Star of the Year Award for the second consecutive year. Lakshya was the highest grossing Bollywood film of the year in both India and at the international box office, earning over Rs 750 million worldwide. The movie also received a host of major prizes at the Filmfare, IIFA and National Film Awards. Her first release of 2005 was the comedy Khullam Khulla Pyaar Karen, co-starring Govinda. Zinta plays the role of, Priti, daughter of a international criminal who arranges for her to marry the son(Govinda) of a fellow criminal as a peace offering following a bitter feud. Despite the popularity of the two leads, the movie was a surprise failure at the box office. Her only other appearance of the year came in the Siddharth Anand's comedy drama Salaam Namaste. The film tells the story of two modern young Indians, Nick played by Saif Ali Khan and Ambar(Zinta), who have emigrated from India and are cohabiting in Melbourne, Australia. The film was well received by critics and Zinta's performance earned her yet another Filmfare nomination for the Best Actress category.
Following special guest appearances’ in Alag and the hit superhero movie Krrish, Zinta’s first full role came in Karan Johar's 2006 film Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. She starred as part of a ensemble cast, which includes Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Abhishek Bachchan and Kirron Kher. The drama tells the story of two unhappily married couples living in New York with Zinta’s character, Rhea, embarking on a extramarital affair. The film was one of the biggest box office hits in India, earning over Rs 450 million and became the highest grossing Indian film of all time in the United States. The film was nominated for ten awards by Filmfare including Best Supporting Actress for Zinta. Later that year she appeared in the romantic musical Jaan-E-Mann. Again set in New York, she played the role of Piya the object of desire of two rival men played by Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. Her performance, despite relatively short screen time, was generally well received by the critics yet the movie performed poorly at the box office in both India and the United States. Zinta started 2007 with an appearance in another comedy, Shaad Ali's Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Filmed in London, England, she portrayed a modern British-Pakistani woman, Alvira, who falls in love following a chance meeting with Abhishek Bachchan at Waterloo station. The movie was considered a commercial failure in India but debuted at # 6 in the U.K. charts. Later that year she starred a struggling theatre actress in her first English language film, The Last Lear, a film based of the Utpal Dutt play Aajker Shahjahan. The film premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and was later showcased at the London Film Festival, and the International Film Festival of India in Goa and was received extremely positively by critics around the world. In 2008 Zinta made her international debut in the Canadian film Heaven on Earth which was based on a true story. She played the female lead of Chand, a young Indian Punjabi woman who moves to Canada but finds herself in an abusive arranged marriage with an Indo-Canadian man, played by Vansh Bhardwaj. The film was well received in North America and Zinta was awarded the Best Actress (Silver Hugo) award at the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival. The film was later dubbed into Hindi and released in India under the title Videsh. She next appeared in Samir Karnik's road movie Heroes. Zinta starred alongside Vatsal Seth as two anti-war film students who travel across North India to deliver three letters written by solders who were killed in action during the 1999 Kargil War to their grieving families. Preity Zinta Filmography 1998 - Dil Se - Preeti Nair1998 - Soldier Preeti Singh 1998 - Premante Idera - Shailu 1999 - Raja Kumarudu - Rani 1999 - Sangharsh - CBI Officer Reet Oberoi 2000 - Kya Kehna - Priya Bakshi 2000 - Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega - Jahnvi 2000 - Mission Kashmir - Sufiya Parvez 2001 - Farz - Kajal Singh 2001 - Chori Chori Chupke Chupke - Madhubala 2001 - Dil Chahta Hai - Shalini 2001 - Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke - Sakshi 2002 - Dil Hai Tumhaara - Shalu 2003 - The Hero: Love Story of a Spy - Reshma/Ruksar 2003 - Armaan - Sonia Kapoor 2003 - Koi... Mil Gaya - Nisha 2003 - Kal Ho Naa Ho - Naina Catherine Kapur Patel 2004 - Lakshya - Romila Dutta 2004 - Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa - Dr. Parineeta 2004 - Veer-Zaara - Zaara Haayat Khan 2005 - Khullam Khulla Pyaar Karen - Priti Damani 2005 - Salaam Namaste - Ambar 'Amby' Malhotra 2006 - Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - Rhea Saran 2006 - Jaan-E-Mann - Piya Goyal 2007 - Jhoom Barabar Jhoom - Alvira Khan 2007 - The Last Lear - Shabnam 2008 - Heaven on Earth - Chand 2008 - Heroes - Kuljeet Kaur Preity Zinta Trivia Preity Zinta Links Babe Invasion | Bestzilla | Celebrity Link | Chickipedia | Free Ones | IMDB | Net Glimse | Star Pages | Utopian Vision
Early Life
