Preity Zinta is born on 31st January 1975, in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. She hails from a family of Rohru in Shimla District.
Her father, Durganand Zinta was an officer in the Indian Army. Durganand Zinta died when Preity was thirteen, in a car accident which also involved her mother, Nilprabha Zinta. Her mother broke many bones in the accident, including her spine. Her mother was bedridden for two years because of this incident. Zinta has two brothers, Deepankar Zinta and Manish Zinta, a year older and a year younger, respectively. Deepankar is a commissioned officer in the Indian Army, while Manish is settled in Los Angeles.
Preity 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. Zinta began her career as a model and appeared in several commercials.
She entered the glamour world with a splash appearing in a Liril soap ad, which instantly caught the eye of those who matter in the glam world. Appearing for Cadbury's Perk with mischievous expressions and twinkling eyes, Preity caught Shekhar Kapoor attention, who was looking for fresh faces for his "Tara Rum Pum Pum" opposite Hrithik Roshan. However, 'Tara Rum Pum' never got made and is still pending since the director got very busy with his other projects. Later, Kapoor recommended her for Mani Ratnam's Dil Se.
Technically her first film was Kundan Shah's Kya Kehna but it got delayed till 2000. The delay of another film Soldier meant that she made her acting debut with Dil Se (1998). The film was her breakthrough role and she won the Filmfare Best Debut Award for her performance, which was only twenty minutes long. This was followed by the hit Soldier and Sangharsh, which did not do well at the Box Office, but gained her recognition as an actress. Zinta also starred in two Telugu films.
Her role in Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and Dil Hai Tumhaara (2002) was appreciated and liked by all and that has made her an actress to reckon with in Bollywood. Her screen presence, charm and down to earth nature has made her the favorite actress of almost all the directors and producers. With banners and films like Rakesh Roshan's Koi... Mil Gaya (2003) with 'Hrithik Roshan', Nikhil Advani's Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) starring Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Jaya Bhaduri, Farhan Akhtar's Lakshya (2004) with Hrithik Roshan and Amitabh Bachchan, Atul Agnihotri's Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha (2004) starring Salman Khan and Bhoomika Chawla, Yash Chopra's Veer-Zaara (2004) with Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee, Siddharth Anand's Salaam Namaste (2005) with Saif Ali Khan, and Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) with Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee, Preity has already made her place in the hearts of the public and also in Bollywood.
In May 2006 she and Karan Johar received an invitation to represent Bollywood at the Cannes Film Festival. They took this opportunity to promote Johar's latest film Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. She attended the festival the following year in 2007.
In 2007, She co-hosted the 52nd Filmfare Awards ceremony, along with Shahrukh Khan, Karan Johar and Juhi Chawla.
In 2007 she was the guest of honour in an art event called Spandan 2. The event took place in the famous Mumbai art gallery Articulate. Also in 2007, Zinta was chosen as the first brand ambassador for GoAir, a new Airway service.
In 2003, Preity Zinta was a witness in the Bharat Shah case and his links to the Mumbai mafia. She stuck by her statement that she received a threatening phone call from the mafia while shooting the film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2000). She was given police protection and was forced to stay out of the public eye for months. Many other celebrities including Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan were witnesses in the case but they soon retracted their statements. Zinta was the only witness not to have turned hostile.
In 2003, Preity Zinta was placed first on the Rediff's Top Bollywood Female Stars. In the following years, she was placed at number 2 three years in a row (2004-2006). Zinta was also ranked number two on the Filmfare "Top Actresses" list (2003-2004) and number three later on (2005-2006). In 2007, Zinta was on the Rediff list of 'Bollywood's Most Beautiful Actresses'. She was also featured in the list of Rediff's Bollywood's Best Dressed Women and listed No #41 by UK magazine Eastern Eye one of "Asia's Sexiest Women" (Sept/ 2006). Zinta was also the first Indian actress on the cover of the first issue of Marie Claire magazine to be sold in India.
Preity Zinta narrowly escaped death twice in late 2004, once after an explosion at a Temptation concert in Colombo, and later in the Indian Ocean Tsunami.
Along with Ness Wadia and others, Preity Zinta acquired ownership rights in 2008 for the Mohali-based Twenty20 cricket team of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The group paid $76 million to acquire the franchise, and have since named the team Kings XI Punjab. She has been involved with launching ticket sales and promoting the team.
In 2000, Preity Zinta began dating model Marc Robinson. They separated the following year, and according to Zinta remained on good terms. Preity Zinta dated the Bombay Dyeing heir, businessman Ness Wadia from February 2005 until May 2009. Their relationship was often reported on by the media, with frequent speculation about an engagement or a break-up.
Gossip has also linked her with many other Bollywood stars, but Preity Zinta has strongly denied all these rumours.
In March 2007, Preity Zinta was involved in a scandal when actress and singer Suchitra Krishnamurthy cited her as the cause of her divorce from Shekhar Kapur, alleging that Zinta was having an affair with him. Although initially silent on the issue, after another accusation by Krishnamurthy, Preity Zinta retorted, "It is unfortunate that I am bearing the brunt of someone else's paranoia. She's clearly unstable and I wish her a speedy recovery."
Preity Zinta would have been in great shock after a MMS clipping of the talented actress hit the web. The video had the actress taking bath in totally nude condition under shower. But later it was discovered that the video was morphed one and a look alike porn star had shot for the video.
Preity 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, and human trafficking. 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.
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