PREITY ZINTA
Almost every article on Preity Zinta mentions either her college degree in psychology or the famous dialogue that got her co-star Shah Rukh Khan to gag on his tea. It was 1998. The film was Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se and zinta asked Khan who was playing her prospective fiance this was a shock for Indian audience.
But than, Zinta has made a habit of standing apart among bollywood’s simpering princesses. The daughter of an Army officer who died when she was thirteen Zinta began her career as a model. She was to make her debut in director Shekher Kapur’s film then titled Tara Rum Pum Pum until England beckoned and kapur went off to shoot Elizabeth the movie that launched Academy Award and Golden Globe Award winning Australian actressCate Blanchett Zinta’s first film which ultimately got delayed because its unconventional subject did not fetch it distributors was Kundan Shah’s Kya Kehna 2000, The movie feature Zinta as an unwed young woman who refuses to abort her baby when dumped by her boyfriend. Zinta’s career has mirrired Bollywood’s new-found moral flexibility and its changing norms. In her short career less than a decade old so far she has already twice played a young woman who has a baby out of wedlock Kya Kehna and Salaam Namaste a divorced woman in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna in 2006, and Jaan-E-Maan 2006, a woman who breaks off with her fiancé only to get engaged to another man Dil Chahta Hai 2001, and Lakshay 2004, and a pakistani woman in love with an Indian Veer Zaara 2004, and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom 2007.
In an industry wherer a well-endowed figure is an advantage as are very Indian looks Zinta has been a bit of a misfit. Her body language is assured and her attitude modern for many in crusty Bollywood that reads Western She has approached her career with a determination to succeed accepting role even if they were not originally written for her. Naina the rather solemn young woman of Kal Ho Naa Ho 2003, was offered initially to Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor while the beauteous Pakistani Girl Zara Hayat Khan, of Veer Zaara was intended for yet another star. Aishwarya Rai who had to be drooped after star Shah Rukh Khan refused to work with her. Among most Indian actresses Zinta has shown the greatest understanding of the importance of the image of a star and how it is perceived by millions of Bollywood fans. As she once said Our films I want to public eye is usually considered professionally suicidal for female stars. Heroins are expected to remain virginal and if they don’t then at least they are not expected to flaunt their affairs. Zinta has been open about most of her relationship but she has also put her foot down when she thinks her privacy is being violated. In a bold gesture not long ago, she took a tabloid to court for mentioning her name in a derogatory manner in an article about an alleged taped conversation between stars Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai where the former seemed to be seeking underworld help.
Zinta is also seen as a pioneer when it comes to the sartorial style of the characters she plays in films. She has experimented with her look varying it according to the character whether it is sporting a sleek fringe for the role of the hasrd as nails schizophrenic Honey Irani’s Armaan 2003, a role rejected by a series of a list actresses from Rani Mukerji to Tabu for being negative or sparking a fashion in librarian glasses when she did Kal Ho Naa Ho. Zinta is seen as a woman who speaks her mind. whether it is about the presence of the underworld in Bollywood she received a threatening phone call from the mafia while she was shooting for chori chori chupke chupke which meant she was given police protection or about the states of Mumbai’s streets dirty and in need of a broom.
At thirty-two Zinta can no longer rely merely on her gamine charm and darling dimples. As Hindi cinema becomes more adventurous in its narrative the cute and bubbly Preity can step back. The studied elegand and independent Rhea Saran of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna can take a bow.