A REBEL Called Preity Zinta

'I am not the kind of person who will stand up and complain. I have no complaints against anyone.'
'If I've been away from the entertainment industry, it's because I am not into selling myself.'
Subhash K Jha salutes Preity Zinta, friend and unusual actor.

Preity Zinta turns a year older last week, on January 31.

I won't mention the age.

Not because she minds, but because the entertainment industry does.

If an actress crosses 40, she starts playing her hero's mom.

Ask Juhi Chawla. She was offered Salman Khan's mother's role by the actor himself.

Salman is a pal of Preity's, but let's face it, he will not play her leading man any more. His heroines are getting younger by the year.

 

Preity has been a rebel from the start of her career.

In 2000, she entered the industry with Kundan Shah's controversial film Kya Kehna. It saw her play an unwed mother.

The film got delayed and Preity was first seen in Mani Ratnam's Dil Se..

In 2001, she played a prostitute, who becomes a surrogate mother to Salman Khan's child in Abbas-Mustan's Chori Chori Chupke Chupke.

In 2003, she stunned the nation by testifying against the underworld in court. No other Bollywood denizen has dared to do the same.

In 2005, Preity filed a defamation suit against a Mumbai tabloid for publishing the transcript of a tape, allegedly featuring the voice of Salman Khan speaking in less than respectful tones about her.

In 2007, Suchitra Krishnamoorthy accused Preity of being the cause of her marriage with Shekhar Kapur breaking up. Preity retaliated by calling Suchitra 'unstable'.

In 2008, Preity bought the Kings Punjab IPL cricket team and decided to focus on building it rather than her acting career.

In 2014, Preity sued her then boyfriend Ness Wadia.

 

The past years have made Preity stronger.

"I am not the kind of person who will stand up and complain. I have no complaints against anyone. If I've been away from the entertainment industry, it's because I am not into selling myself. You won't see me buying space to get written about. I want to be appreciated for the work that I do," she once told me.

Preity is perturbed by the changes in the entertainment industry.

"The one thing that bothers me about our present day lifestyles is the vulgar stress on wealth. An individual's success is measured by his or her wealth, not by moral values. Today, you are not judged for how much good you can do, but for how much scandal you can create and how much skin you can expose."

She feels a tragic erosion of integrity in our social value system.

"I fear the values I was brought up with are disappearing. It's scary. Of course, we were naughty as hell when we were kids, but we were mercifully spared the consumerist culture. When you ask today's kids what they want to do when they grow up, they say they want to be rich and famous."

Preity is amused to see today's kids growing up without heroes.

"What happened to those dreams of being Jawaharlal Nehru and Lata Mangeshkar? No kid wants to change the world. According to me, a hero is a soldier or a doctor, not a film star. We don't appreciate the real heroes any more. We think about our own interests. Since we have no role-models in real life, we hardly have roles of substance in films, except for an occasional Milkha Singh or Jhansi ki Rani."

"Out of all the films that I've done, most have been PG13. Only Salaam Namaste was for adults because a live-in relationship was scandalous back then. There is a need for entertainment designed for children. We don't have too many films that kids can watch comfortably with their parents. Most film-makers prefer to take the easy route.

"I want as much variety in my characters as possible. The script is more important than my role. Sometimes I have accepted a part only because it seemed attractive within the perspective of the script.

"Fortunately, all the directors I've worked with so far have been extremely open to inputs. So I have been able to project some dignity into every character I've played, even if she was the prostitute in Chori Chori Chupke Chupke. I found it hard to identify with her, so I went to a lot of bars in Mumbai, and read books on prostitutes. I wanted her to be portrayed with dignity."

Throughout her career, Preity has refused to anything crass.

"There have been times when I've had to tell the director, 'Sorry, sir, but the same emotion can be done differently. Why do we have to be so tacky?'

"But such problems hardly prop up. When they do, my directors have sambhaloed my character. For me as an actor, it's very important to have the complete script before I agree to do a film. Most of the time, I get my way. I'd rather not work with a director who doesn't give me a script.

"I don't mean to question the director's authority by asking for a script. I want it so that I can do my homework and be fully prepared before coming on the sets.

"I could be wrong in my observations and inputs and I'd be most happy to have the director pull me up. If I was always right, I might as well be the director myself! But seriously, I've been brought up in an atmosphere where girls are taught to think for themselves. It's therefore very essential for me to do progressive cinema.

"As a celebrity, I don't want to come across as ill-informed. It would give cynics another chance to call actors dumb. Most of our audiences look up to us, and it is important for an actor to set the right example. If there's a scene where a man is shown hitting a girl, I point out to the director that he is glorifying domestic violence.

"There are hundreds of inoffensive ways of conveying an offensive truth. There have been lots of times when I've said no to seemingly lucrative offers. I've been told what a fool I am but I'd rather go by my convictions. I have to be comfortable with what I do.

"When I become old, I want my children and grandchildren to look proudly at my body of work. Imagine my kids turning to me and saying, 'Oh God! Why did you do that?'"

Preity feels Dil Chahta Hai was a turning point in her career.

"Indian contemporary youth was shown in the right light for the first time. The film showed me as something other than the chirpy, bubbly, all-over-the-place girl that I'm known to be. In real life, I'm a happy-go-lucky chatterbox.

"I'm an actor; it's my job to do every kind of role. You know, as a child when my parents would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I'd say air hostess, the next time, I'd say prime minister, then a cop, then an astronaut...

'Now, I'm that lucky kid who gets a chance to play all sorts of characters. One day I might even get to play Preity Zinta! Also, acting gives you an opportunity to rectify the mistakes in your life. Am I getting too philosophical?"

She is very fond of the Khans.

"My first release Dil Se.. was with Shah Rukh. We didn't work together thereafter. There was a bit of misunderstanding. We weren't fighting or anything, we just stood our ground. I think we let each other be. And we listened to so many people telling us things about each other.

"Then we did Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. He's so cool and sharp. He doesn't waste time. We come on the sets, give our shots and leave.

"I'm sure I've learnt quite a bit from all of the Khans. Every interaction has enriched me. Some of them made me realise the value of rehearsals and others have taught me what I shouldn't do. I follow the rationale route. I imbibe what's worth it. I don't follow anyone blindly.

"If I work with Aamir, it doesn't mean I'll start behaving like him. I'm too much my own person.

"I've shared a good rapport with all my co-stars because I've followed a principle of never get emotionally involved with anyone I work with. If that happens, your personal and professional life will clash. This is a strict career decision I took when I arrived in films."

 

She is very close to two actors in the film industry, Hrithik Roshan and Bobby Deol.

"Bobby has been my buddy from before I came into films. I came to know Hrithik through his ex-wife. Sussanne and I are best friends for the last 15 years. I remember he had come to meet me with a cake on my birthday as the guy Sussanne was seeing. I had found him very thin. I remember he told Sussanne, 'What kind of a friend do you have? She comes late on her own birthday.'

Preity loves her film Koi... Mil Gaya with Hrithik.

"I was deeply attracted to Koi... Mil Gaya because the lead pair in our films always play boyfriend-girlfriend, husband-wife or maybe brother-sister. But my relationship with Hrithik in that film is based on compassion and humanity. There's no sexuality between us. Even in the duet Idhar Chala, there's purity and innocence. When (Director) Rakesh Roshan gave me the script, I was on a high.

"The relationship between the lead pair is so different from anything portrayed so far. It was very important for me not to behave like a conventional heroine in this film. If I did the glam-and-pout act, I'd have stuck out like a sore thumb. I'd have effectually destroyed the film's timeless texture. I had to be one of the kids along with Hrithik.

"I also had to have strength of character because I had to extend a hand of support to Hrithik's character. But I had to be glamorous too. The thing that really worked for the film was our real-life rapport. In real life too, Hrithik seeks my advice sometimes, and we are very truthful to each other. At the same time, we can do really stupid things together. We have a lot of fun together, just like our characters in Koi... Mil Gaya."

About testifying against the underworld, Preity had said once, "There are times when you have to do things not to prove anything to others, but to yourself. This was one of those times. I didn't do it it to feel brave, but because I thought it was about time someone stood up against what's bothering us in the film industry.

"What shocked me was the way I was let down by the government. The trial was supposed be on-camera behind closed doors, in complete secrecy. No one was supposed to know anything about it, except the lawyers.

"But before I got into my car and reached the venue, it was all over the television channels. What if some small-town girl was testifying against a goon? She'd have been finished! I didn't regret it, but the whole thing made me angry. For the first time, it made me think that I should go into politics, so I could make a difference to our social system.

"I guess I've made enough money to live comfortably. I live the way I want to. Now I want to make a difference. Every time I return from abroad, the chaos hits me right from the time I disembark.

"Ours is a great country with so much cultural and spiritual value to offer, and we're throwing it away. Spain has a population of 40 million people and 60 million tourists coming in each year. India doesn't have even a fraction of that influx! Why can't we re-package India as a land of peace and sprituality?"

I remember our lunch at the Olive restaurant in Mumbai, Preity, Karan Johar and me, before she ventured into the IPL.

Karan kept giving her career gyaan, and I was smiling to myself.

I didn't feel Preity needed career guidance.

She was so in charge of her life, so honest about herself.

Never afraid to call a spade a spade.

When a film-maker from an illustrious family decided to 'adopt' her, she ticked him off, saying she already had a father and didn't need a replacement.

I met Preity last when she was in Patna for an event, just before the pandemic.

"The event is just an excuse. I actually came to Patna to meet you," Preity said.

We spent a fabulous afternoon at home over lunch.

The world may change but some things remain the same.

Like Preity's dimples.

Actresses with dimples, from Sharmila Tagore to Deepika Padukone, are born to rule.