subject: Preity Zinta - Bollywood Actress [print this page] Preity Zinta was born on 31st January 1975 in Rohru in the district of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Her father Durganand Zinta was an Indian Army officer. Her mother is Nilprabha Zinta. When Preity was 13, her parents were involved in a fatal car accident.
Her father was killed and her mother suffered serious injuries, causing her to remain bedridden for two years. The tragic event left a lasting impression on her mind and she matured rapidly. Preity has two brothers, elder brother Deepankar Zinta and younger brother Manish Zinta. Deepankar is an Indian Army Officer. Manish lives in California, USA.
Preity Zinta did her schooling from the Convent of Jesus and Mary, a boarding school in Shimla. Preity was a very good student and developed interest in literature and poetry. She loved the works of William Shakespeare. She was also fond of playing sports, especially basketball.
Preity Zinta later went to St. Bede College in Shimla, and graduated with a degree in English. She then did her post graduation in Criminal Psychology. Preity Zinta started her career as a model. Her first commercial was for Cadbury Perk. After that she appeared in many commercials including the famous Liril soap advertisement.
Preity was supposed to make her debut with Shekhar Kapur TARA RUM PUM PUM, opposite Hrithik Roshan. However the film was shelved. Preity Zinta wrote four columns for BBC News Online in 2004. She was joined by other South Asian commentators.
Her first column was The changing face of Bollywood. Her second column was Odds stacked against Indian women, where she wrote about eveteasing and abuse. This column had a high readership and Preity received thousand of mails applauding her.
Her third column was The darkness that all actors fear, where she wrote about stardom. Her last column was Facing death in Sri Lanka and Thailand, where she wrote about her two near death experiences. In 2008, Preity Zinta acquired the ownership rights of Kings XI Punjab, the Mohali based T20 cricket team of the Indian Premiere League.
She bought the team along with Ness Wadia and others for 76 Million dollars. Humanitarian Work In 2005, Preity Zinta performed at the Help! Telethon Concert to raise funds for the victims of the 2004 Tsunami.
In 2005, Preity Zinta attended a blood donation camp in Delhi, organized by the Rotary Club, as the brand ambassador of the Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Movement. In 2007 Preity Zinta was seen along with Rani Mukerji on Kaun Banega Crorepati, a game show hosted by Amitabh Bachchan.
Preity and Rani won Rs. 2,50,000 and donated it to the Shimla District Red Cross Society in Himachal Pradesh.
In 2007, Preity Zinta visited the army troops in Hisar, Haryana, as a part of the Jai Jawan series, telecast of NDTV. She also made paintings for the underprivileged children of a NGO Khushi.
Preity, along with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), pledged to curtail human trafficking in India. Preity Zinta dated model Marc Robinson in 2000. In 2005 Preity started dating Ness Wadia, the heir of Bombay Dyeing. But they broke up in 2009.
Preity Zinta has faced two near death experiences. First she escaped death when there was an explosion during her Temptations Concert in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In 2004, Preity was in Thailand, one of the worst hit places, during the deadly Tsunami.
Preity Zinta was a witness in the Bharat Shah case, where the producer Bharat Shah was accused of having contacts with the Mumbai underworld. She received the first Godfrey Mind of Steel Award at the annual Red and White Bravery Awards, for her courage to stand against the Mumbai underworld.
