Preity Zinta

Preity Zinta is an actress and entrepreneur best known for Hindi films. She graduated with degrees in English honours and criminal psychology before acting. Her first films, Dil Se and Soldier (both 1998), won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

She became known for unconventional roles, starting with a teenage single mother in Kya Kehna (2000). Sangharsh (1999), Chori Chori Chupke Chupke and Dil Chahta Hai (both 2001), Dil Hai Tumhaara (2002) and Armaan (2003) followed. As Naina in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) she won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Koi... Mil Gaya (2003) and Veer-Zaara (2004) were the top-grossing films of their years in India.

Critics noted her independent, modern women in Salaam Namaste (2005) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), and she became one of the leading Hindi film actresses of the decade. On this guide she appears in Dil Chahta Hai and plays Naina in Kal Ho Naa Ho.

Her first international role, in the Canadian drama Heaven on Earth (2008), won her the Silver Hugo for Best Actress. She has also written columns for BBC News Online South Asia. She runs the production company PZNZ Media and has co-owned the Indian Premier League team Punjab Kings since 2008. In the 2004 Bharat Shah case she was the only witness who did not retract her statements against the Mumbai underworld.

Dil Chahta Hai (2001, Hindi) was released 10 August 2001. Preity Zinta is in the cast, under director Farhan Akhtar. The cast also includes Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna.

Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003, Hindi) was released 28 November 2003. Preity Zinta plays Naina, under director Nikhil Advani. The cast also includes Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Jaya Bachchan.