Preity is the daughter of Late Durganand Zinta, an Army
Officer, and Nilprabha Zinta. She was born in Rohru in Simla district and has
two brothers. A self-confessed tomboy, Zinta completed her education in Simla.
She graduated with a degree in English, and later pursued her post-graduation
in criminal psychology, but eventually took to modeling. Her first ads were for
Perk chocolate and Liril soap.
Her first two films ‘Dil Se’ and ‘Soldier’ were
well-received and earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. She
proved her versatility by playing a single teenage mother in ‘Kya Kehna’, for
which she was nominated for the Best Actress award. Her next film ‘Mission
Kashmir’ was also successful, and was followed by Farhan Akhtar’s National
Award-winning film ‘Dil Chahta Hai’. This was followed by a brief unsuccessful
phase as her films like ‘Chori Chori Chupke Chupke’ and ‘Dil Hai Tumhara’ were
not commercial earners.
Preity bounced back to success with major grossing films
like ‘The Hero: Love Story of a Spy’, ‘Koi…Mil Gaya’ and ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’. The
first was the most expensive Hindi film produced at that time, and despite
being a commercially grossing film, it did not recover its costs. The next was
a science fiction film which earned the Filmfare Award for Best Movie. For her
performance in ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’, Preity received the Best Actress Award.
