Preity Zinta Preity G Zinta (pronounced ; born 31 January 1975) is an Indian actress and entrepreneur primarily known for her work in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. After graduating with degrees in English literature, English honours and criminal psychology, Z ...

(born 31 January 1975) is an Indian actress, film producer and entrepreneur who has received several awards for her acting in Hindi films. Her career began in 1998 with

Mani Ratnam Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six Nat ...

's acclaimed drama '' Dil Se..'' and the box office hit ''

Soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

''. Both films won her the award for Best Female Debut at the

44th Filmfare Awards The 44th Filmfare Awards were held on 21 February 1999, in Mumbai, India. Karan Johar's directorial debut ''Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' led the ceremony with 18 nominations and 8 wins – including a sweep of the major acting categories, a record it h ...

. Her performance in ''Dil Se..'' also earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the same ceremony, while ''Soldier'' won her three more Best Debut awards at other major ceremonies. Zinta received her first Filmfare nomination for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

for her portrayal of a teenage single mother in ''

Kya Kehna ''Kya Kehna'' ( en, So well said) is a 2000 Indian Hindi romantic drama film. Written by Honey Irani, it was directed by Kundan Shah and released on 19 May 2000 at a budget of . ''Kya Kehna'' dealt with the taboo issue of pre-marital pregnancy a ...

''. She followed these films with several critically and commercially successful films, such as ''

Mission Kashmir ''Mission Kashmir'' is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Hrithik Roshan, Jackie Shroff, Preity Zinta, and Sonali Kulkarni. It deals with terrorism and the tr ...

'' (2000) and ''

Dil Chahta Hai ''Dil Chahta Hai'' () is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy drama film written and directed by Farhan Akhtar. It was produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and released under the banner of Excel Entertainment (which Akhtar and Sidhwani co- ...

'' (2001), and her performances in ''

Chori Chori Chupke Chupke ''Chori Chori Chupke Chupke'' () is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Abbas–Mustan, with screenplay and story from Javed Siddiqui and Neeraj Vora respectively. Starring Salman Khan, Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta, ...

'' (2001), ''

Dil Hai Tumhaara ''Dil Hai Tumhaara'' (English: ''My Heart Is Yours'') is a 2002 Indian Hindi romantic drama film directed by Kundan Shah starring Rekha, Preity Zinta, Mahima Chaudhry, Arjun Rampal, Jimmy Sheirgill and Alok Nath. The film was promoted as a star ...

'' (2002) and '' Armaan'' (2003) were praised. Zinta won several awards for her performance in the romantic comedy-drama ''

Kal Ho Naa Ho ''Kal Ho Naa Ho'' (, ), also abbreviated as ''KHNH'', is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy drama film directed by Nikhil Advani, written by Karan Johar with dialogue by Niranjan Iyengar, and produced by Yash Johar. The film stars Ja ...

'', including her first and only Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She went on to star in top-grossing productions in India and abroad, including '' Koi... Mil Gaya'' (2003), ''

Veer-Zaara ''Veer-Zaara'' () is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Yash Chopra, who co-produced it with his son Aditya Chopra. It stars Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta as the eponymous star-crossed lovers: Veer Pratap Singh (Kha ...

'' (2004), ''

Salaam Namaste ''Salaam Namaste'' () is a 2005 Indian romantic comedy film, directed by first-time director Siddharth Anand and produced by Aditya Chopra and Yash Chopra under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film stars Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta in their fo ...

'' (2005) and ''

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna ''Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'' (), also abbreviated as ''KANK'', is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic drama film written and directed by Karan Johar and produced by his mother Hiroo Yash Johar, in her debut, under the Dharma Productions ...

'' (2006), all of which earned her different nominations at major award ceremonies, which, in addition to Filmfare, include such organisations as

Screen Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing * Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry * Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which mul ...

, Zee Cine, the

International Indian Film Academy The International Indian Film Academy Awards, popularly known as IIFA, is an annual awards ceremony for Bollywood. Produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, the winners of the awards are decided by fans, who vote online for th ...

(IIFA), and '' Stardust'', among others. After a relatively low phase, she started appearing in

arthouse An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

films, known in India as

parallel cinema Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema. Inspired by Italian Neorealism, Parallel Cinema ...

. She played her first international film role in

Deepa Mehta Deepa Mehta, (; born 1 January 1950) is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire (1996 film), ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth (1998 film), Earth'' (1998), and ''Water (2005 film), Water'' (2005 ...

's Canadian drama '' Heaven on Earth'' (2008, titled ''Videsh'' in India). Her portrayal in the film won her the

Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical cond ...

at the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

, and she was a Best Actress nominee at several award functions in Canada, including the

Genie Awards The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

by the

Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize the achievements of the over 4,000 Canadian film industry and television industry professionals, most notably through the Canadian Scre ...

, and the

Vancouver Film Critics Circle The Vancouver Film Critics Circle (VFCC) was founded in 2000 by David Spaner and Ian Caddell, in order to help promote Canadian films and the British Columbia Film and Television Industry. Its membership includes print, radio, on-line, and telev ...

. Apart from merit awards for her film performances, Zinta was awarded different non-acting honours at major film award functions. These include IIFA's Style Diva of the Year and Glamorous Star awards. She was named Zee Cine's

Queen of Hearts The queen of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. Queen of Hearts or The Queen of Hearts may refer to: Books * "The Queen of Hearts" (poem), anonymous nursery rhyme published 1782 * ''The Queen of Hearts'', an 1859 novel by W ...

in 2003 and female Superstar of the Year in 2004. In 2009, Zinta was one of five actresses nominated as "Star of the Decade – Female" at the

10th IIFA Awards The 10th International Indian Film Academy Awards (informally known as the Decadial IIFA Awards) were a major film awards ceremony honoring the best Bollywood films of 2008. The ceremony was held in The Venetian Macao, Macau from 11 June to 13 J ...

. In addition to industry honours, Zinta has received several achievement awards for both her film career and her social activities. In 2003, Zinta became the first recipient of Godfrey's Mind of Steel Award at the annual Red and White Bravery Awards, given to her for the "Courageous Act" of standing against the

Mumbai underworld Organised crime in India refers to organised crime elements originating in India and active in many parts of the world. The purpose of organised crime in India, as elsewhere in the world, is monetary gain. Its virulent form in modern times is d ...

after she became the only witness not to retract in court her earlier statements against the Indian mafia during the 2003 Bharat Shah case. In 2010, the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

awarded Zinta with an Honorary Doctorate of Arts in honour of both her cultural contribution and her humanitarian work.

Awards and nominations

Honours and recognitions

*2003: Mind of Steel Award Award at

Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Awards The Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Awards (formerly: Red and White Bravery Awards) is a surrogate tobacco brand promotional activity of Godfrey Phillips India, instituted in 1990, as a PR campaign to promote its cigarette brand "Red and Wh ...

, given to her for the "Courageous Act" of standing against the

*2008: GR8! FLO Women Achievers Awards for achievement in films *2009: IIFA-

FICCI Frames FICCI Frames is an international convention of the Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry, formerly chaired by Yash Chopra and co-chaired by Karan Johar. It is organized annually by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI ...

Awards, among 10 "Most Powerful Entertainers of the Decade" * 2010: Honorary Doctorate of Arts, the

, in honour of her cultural contribution and humanitarian work. Cited as "an international actress, pioneering star of Hindi cinema and devoted humanitarian. Preity has carved a path for women to follow." * 2011:

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

, "World Diamond Group Platinum Award for Peoples' Friendship" * 2013: YFLO Young Women Achievers Award for achievement in films

Awards and nominations

Honours and recognitions

References

Bibliography

External links