Preity Zinta Biography
Name Preity Zinta
Original Name Preetam Singh
Birth Date January 31, 1974
Birth Place Simla, India
Zodiac Sign Aquarius
Height 5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
Weight 52 Kgs
Hair Color Black
Marital Status Single
Languages Hindi, English
Hobbies Fitness, Acting, Reading
Contact Address C/10A, Ranwar, Waroda Rd., Bandra (w), Mumbai – 50
Family Background
Brother(s) 1 Brother
Spouse boyfriend Ness Wadia
Ex-Spouse dated Marc Robinson but broke up
Favourites
Favourite Actor : Guru Dutt, Sanjay Dutt, Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan
Favourite Actress : Madhubala, Waheeda Rehman, Sridevi
Favourite Color : electric blue
Favourite Hollywood Actress: Al Pacino
Favourite Perfumes : Envy, Gucci for Men
Favourite Cloths : string pyjamas and anything comfortable
Hobbies : Fitness
Preity Zinta Biography
Preity Zinta’s impish looks in the Cadbury’s Perk commercial and her forthright character in her debut Dil Se, on par with her off screen persona stole the show and had her fans begging for more.
Pretty Power
Preity Zinta, born on the 31st January 1975 in Shimla comes from a non-filmi family. Her father Durganand Zinta was in the Indian Army and her mother is Nilprabha. Her older brother Deepankar is with the Indian Army and a younger brother Manish lives in California. Zinta’s parents were in a car accident that killed her father while her mother made it with severe injuries.
Zinta spent her early years at the Jesus and Mary boarding school in Shimla. She is a graduate in English from St.Bede’s College in Shimla after which she did a degree in Criminal Psychology.
Her break into show business was a matter of chance, when she was featured in the Cadbury Perk’s commercial. She went on to be the Liril girl and part of other ads. She made a move into movies in 1997. Her debut Shekhar Kapoor’s Tara Rum Pum Pum with Hrithik Roshan was cancelled after which she landed a role in Mani Rathnam’s Dil Se.
Zinta was dating Marc Robinson. She is currently dating Ness Wadia, a businessman who comes from the family that runs Bombay Dyeing.
Skating on thin ice
Zinta was awarded the Godfrey’s Mind of Steel Award and the Red and White Bravery Award for testifying against the underworld who had threatened her during the Bharat Shah case. She was one of the few witnesses who stood her ground.
More recently, Zinta was accused by singer Suchitra Krishnamurthy for being the reason behind her divorce from director Shekhar Kapoor, which Zinta denied.
IPL
Zinta’s life has been more than just show business. She wrote for the BBC News Online about women’s issues. She is actively involved in various social causes like AIDS awareness, clean up drives in Mumbai, human trafficking etc. Her prize money from Kaun Banega Crorepathi was donated to the Red Cross Society in Shimla. She was one of the celebrities, who as part of NDTV’s Jai Jawan, visited the army men based in Hisar, Haryana.
In 2008, she became the youngest and only woman to own a franchise of the Mohali based Twenty20 cricket team of the Indian Premier League. She was in the news for her rapport with the team’s players and support that she extended towards them during the matches.
Shaadi ke pehle, you know, honkabonkabonk???
1998 to 2000
Preity Zinta’s first release was in Mani Rathnam’s Dil Se (1998) with Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala. Her role as the outspoken Preeti Nair and her song sequence Jiya Jale was enough to seal the deal. Her second movie the same year was as the lead in Soldier with Bobby Deol. She won the Filmfare Best Debut Award. She also acted in a Telugu movie Premante Idera.
In 1999, she appeared in another Telugu movie Raja Kumarudu and as a CBI officer in Tanuja Chandra’s Sangharsh, which was inspired by Silence of the Lambs. In 2000, she played Priya Bakshi in Kya Kehna which dealt with pre-marital sex and the ostracization of a single, pregnant woman. This was followed by Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega with Rani Mukherji and Salman Khan and Mission Kashmir in which she played a journalist opposite Hrithik Roshan.
2001 to 2004
She starred once again with Rani Mukherji and Salman Khan in Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001), which was mired in controversy as it was supposed to have been financed by the underworld. Then there was the groundbreaking Dil Chahta Hai which cast her as Aamir Khan’s love interest. Dil Hai Tumhaara, her only release in 2002, did not do well at the box office. Armaan, in 2003, saw her in a negative role and part of Bollywood’s sci-fi movie Koi Mil Gaya with Hrithik Roshan. It was Naina Catherine Kapoor’s role in Karan Johar’s Kal Ho Na Ho that cinched the Filmfare Best Film Actress Award.
In Lakshya she famously played the role of journalist Barkha Dutt and Veer – Zaara, a love story between a Pakistani woman and an Indian man won her praise.
2005 to 2009
Salaam Namaste, set in Australia starring Saif Ali Khan had her in the role of Amber a radio jockey in a live-in relationship and for the third time on screen she was pregnant out of wedlock.
Kabhie Alvida Naa Kehna, another multi starrer by Karan Johar, did well in 2006. Jhoom Bharabar Jhoom in 2007 didn’t do well in India but did better business overseas. Rituparno Ghosh’s The Last Lear got mixed reviews. In 2008, she played Kuljeet Kaur, a war-widow in Heroes and Chand in Deepa Mehta’s Heaven on Earth that was about domestic violence.
Jahnu Barua’s Har Pall, is her next release in 2009 and has her starring with Shiney Ahuja.
Humanitarian work
During her years in the film industry, Zinta has been involved with different charities,and has supported women’s causes in India, for instance protesting against female infanticide.She has also participated in AIDS awareness drives and campaigns to clean up Mumbai.
In 2005, along with other Bollywood stars, Zinta performed at the HELP! Telethon Concert raising money for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.The following year, as an ambassador of the Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Movement, Zinta attended a blood donation camp organised by the Rotary Club of Delhi and the Godfrey Phillips Awards. She lent her support to the cause of women’s empowerment and promoted blood donation. She said, “Donating blood doesn’t kill one but goes on to save somebody’s life …. Once blood is donated it becomes universal and might be used by anyone in need, irrespective of community, caste or region. It binds people together.
In 2007, Zinta along with Rani Mukerji, donated Rs 250,000 of her winnings from Kaun Banega Crorepati to the Shimla District Red Cross Society in Himachal Pradesh.In January, Zinta visited Hisar, Haryana, where she spent a day at the army training base to boost the morale of the jawan troops. The visit was conducted for an NDTV show, Jai Jawan, on which entertainers and actors visit Indian troops. While there, she also met children with disabilities at a special school maintained by the army.In August, along with Mumbai-based artist Gurcharan Singh, Zinta painted for the cause of street children for the non-governmental organisation Khushi.In December, she joined the efforts of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to curb human trafficking in India. She spoke on behalf of awareness against the practice, the need for protection and rehabilitation for those rescued from it, and punishment for perpetrators.
Preity Zinta Filmography
Har Pall (2009)
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) – Special Appearance
Heroes (2008) – Kuljeet Kaur
The Last Lear (2008) – Shabnam
Om Shanti Om (2007) – special appearance
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007) – Alvira Khan
Jaan-e-Mann (2006) – Piya Goyal
Kabhi Alvida Naa kehna (2006) – Rhea Saran
Alag (2006) – Special Appearance (Song)
Krrish (2006) – Nisha (Special App)
Salaam Namaste (2005) – Ambar Malhotra
Khullam Khulla Pyaar Karen (2005) – Priti
Veer-Zaara (2004) – Zaara Hayaat Khan
Lakshya (2004) – Romila Dutta
Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha (2004) – Dr. Parineeta (Pari)
Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) – Naina Catherine Kapur Patel
Koi… Mil Gaya (2003) – Nisha
Armaan (2003) – Sonia Kapoor
The Hero (2003) – Reshma/Ruksar
Dil Hai Tumhaara (2002) – Shalu
Dil Chahta Hai (2001) – Shalini
Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001) – Madhubala (Madhu)
Farz (2001) – Kajal Singh
Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke (2001) – Sakshi
Mission Kashmir (2000) – Sufiya Parvez
Kya Kehna (2000) – Priya Baxi
Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega… (2000) – Jahnvi
Raja Kumarudu (1999) – Rani
Dillagi (1999) – Rani (Guest Appearance)
Sangharsh (1999) – CBI Officer Reet Oberoi
Dil Se.. (1998) – Preeti Nair
Premante Idera (1998) – Jannu (as Preity Zintar)
Soldier (1998) – Preeti Singh
