Preity Zinta back with permed locks

Bollywood actress Preity Zinta is once again sporting the permed hair look that she popularised in her 2001 film ‘Dil Chahta Hai’.

For a long time, the bubbly beauty had been flaunting straight hair. But when Preity took up the role as the host of new tv show ‘Guinness World Records - Ab India Todega’, she opted for the permed look.

"Preity loves to experiment and can carry off almost everything with style and panache. She has now permed her hair and it won’t be too long before the trend catches on since she is a trendsetter in her own right. She has been receiving compliments and everyone is raving about her new look," said a source.

Preity Zinta: brand ambassador of Himachal tourism

Bollywood actress Preity Zinta would be Himachal Pradesh’s brand ambassador for promoting tourism, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has announced. “Preity Zinta would motivate world-renowned personalities and entrepreneurs to visit and invest in high-end tourism the state. She has agreed in principle to act as a brand ambassador for tourism,” said Dhumal. Preity has even agreed to work for environment awareness in the state. A team of government officials, comprising tourism director Arun Sharma, met Preity in Mumbai to get her consent in this regard.

Preity, who belonged to the hill state, did her graduation from Shimla’s St. Bede’s, India’s oldest all-women college.

Preity Zinta to host Preity Zinda Show

Last in news for her horrid break-up with industrialist Ness Wadia, dimpled beauty Preity Zinta is back to making headlines for much favourable reasons. Keeping in line with her superstar status, Preity is the latest tinsel towner to join the long list of celebs gracing the small screen.

Known for her gutsy ways and beaming persona, the chatty actress is set to host her own talk show.

After playing a guest at many such shows, the stunner is sure to draw some prominent personalities for her own show. Inspired by Preity, the show is called ‘The Preity Zinda Show’ and is stated to have a series of industry biggies as guests.

So what made Zinta agree to small screen? A hefty paycheck of Rs 10 crore was the throbbing price the makers had to shell to get Preity onboard. Set to go on air in mid-December, the weekly show will draw celebs from all walks of life.

The show is called ‘The Preity Zinda Show’ and she has been paid a whopping Rs 10 crore for 20 episodes. The deal was finalised last week when the channel officials met her in Los Angeles. Preity is quite excited about her television debut. However, everything about the deal is a hush-hush affair right now and no one is allowed to talk about it.

Preity Zinta with Neil Nitin Mukesh to endorse Morellato watches

Preity Zinta and Neil Nitin Mukesh are soon to feature in a timepiece ad campaign. The duo will be seen flaunting the Morellato watches while endorsing the brand.

The advertisement will be shown globally and needed a guy with the international looks for which Neil was the obvious and only option. His rugged look is what the client was looking for. Preity Zinta was selected for her strong presence in the international market and for her sophistication.

Preity had shot for the ad two days before leaving for the IPL in South Africa.

Neil surely seems to be having the best period of his life as first it was the sensuous Bipasa Basu and now he got a chance to work with the sexy B-town babe- Preity Zinta.

Preity Zinta makes break up with Ness Wadia

There have been much rumors about Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia… but they all were just rumors. Now…

… after using every trick known to keep her reported break-up with the eligible business tycoon, Ness Wadia under wraps, it was Preity’s astute business acumen that got the truth out of her. Under dreary clouds for long, the dimply Miss Zinta and the dashing Wadia scion’s love saga has reportedly drawn to a sad end.

There is no smoke without fire and this much-celebrated B-town couple’s recent actions sparked many such split rumours. Though the couple vehemently denied all such speculations, the cat’s out now it seems as the dazzling beauty has come in the open about her year love-affair gone kaput.

While the reason for the split is still unknown, a news daily claims that Zinta in a memo to her Kings XI Punjab team stated loud and clear that her “relationship with Wadia is only professional and they are just work buddies”.

The smooth façade of ‘Preityness’ relationship showed cracks, when the inseparable love-birds started to make solo appearances. The couple that flashed their affection on every given occasion now remains only business partners.

Bleeding hearts and broken homes have become a regular in filmdom - Preity Zinta is not the first one and she is certainly not the last too.

Preity Zinta promoting her film Videsh

Preity Zinta meets Prime Minister of New Zealand

Preity Zinta is right now in New Zealand to watch the cricket one-day series between India and New Zealand. In the meanwhile, she was invited by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key for an evening reception along with the Indian Cricket Team at the Parliament of NZ.

“I have just come out of the reception. It was really a pleasure meeting the man, who is so down to earth and I hear extremely popular”, said the actress.

Mr. John Key and Preity Zinta discussed cricket for most of the time. Preity adds that she was extremely concerned for the Sri Lankan team when they were attacked in Pakistan. "I have been in touch with the boys from my team- Kumar Sangakara and Mahela Jayawardene, and they are fine. My prayers are with those boys," she said.

Further talking about the incident, she said, “It's a sad day for cricket and sports in general. I am deeply shocked at what has happened and I strongly condemn these attacks. My sympathies are with the team and I hope they emerge out of this stage”.

Shilpa Shetty breaks the ice with Preity Zinta

The two IPL queens are battling it out for the upcoming IPL Series but there came as a sudden twist to the tale as Shilpa Shetty extended an olive branch to her supposed rival in the IPL, Preity Zinta.

Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra are hosting a grand party to celebrate their entry into the IPL March 10 at the Grand Hyatt and Preity is invited for the event.

Shilpa thinks these rivalry stories are unnecessary. She says "We’re both decent well brought-up girls. We were even together in the Bachchans’ world tour. And we got along fine. We don’t need to be seen as these warring women at all, please."

Heroes invited to Oscars screenplay

Director Samir Karnik is over the moon after he got an Oscars invite for a copy of the screenplay of 'Heroes' for its archives. Karnik received the letter from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, informally known as the Oscars.

An elated Karnik told : 'I'm sending them the script right away. I can't believe that the Oscars archives has invited our screenplay. Maybe because it is an original screenplay. That's why they invited it.' The scripts in the Oscars collection are made accessible for research purposes to student filmmakers, writers and actors.

Impressed with Preity Zinta's performance in 'Heroes', Karnik is all set to cast her in his next film 'Formula No.44'. 'She was wonderful in 'Heroes'. Now we're keen on casting her in a diametrically opposite role of an action-heroine in 'Formula No.44'. She has never done action before. She'll be quite cool in it because she's half a tomboy.'

He has already finalised Bobby Deol, Vatsal Seth and Sohail Khan for the new film. 'I've already written half the script. My core team is already in place. And Binod Pradhan will be my cinematographer as long as he wants to work with me. Right now my producer Vikas Kapoor is keen on getting the project in place. We're co-producing the film.'

Preity Zinta chosen Best Actress at Chicago International Film Festival

After Shabana Azmi, Preity Zinta is the second Indian actress to ever win an award at the Chicago International Film Festival. After winning accolades at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year, Preity's risk in taking on a role like Chand in Heaven on Earth has definitely payed off.

"I am so happy and excited. I'm going to have a blissfully debauched celebration this evening. It was my director Deepa Mehta who informed me on Saturday afternoon that I had won. Neither Deepa nor I could go to Chicago, I'm thrilled that I've done it without any lobbying," she says.

Director Deepa Mehta is equally thrilled and describes Preity as 'luminous' in the film. Mehta is currently promoting her film in Canada as the film released this past Friday to great reviews.

Adds Deepa Mehta, "It's amazing, isn't it? I'm so happy for Preity. She's luminous in Heaven On Earth...just like Shabana Azmi in Fire. Coincidentally, Shabana was the other actress to win the Best Actress Award at Chicago. I don't think any other Indian actress has won this award. I'm happy Preity is getting rave reviews for Heroes. I've seen bits of her performance in Heroes. And in fact it was that performance which reassured me that I had made the right choice for Heaven On Earth."

Preity, on the other hand, is finally seeing her hard work pay off. After playing similar candyfloss roles in several films, Preity opted for a change with films like The Last Lear, Heaven on Earth and Heroes. For Heroes, Preity has been praised immensely as well.

What really pleases Preity is that this international award will help sell Heaven On Earth to a global audience. "It is a film in Punjabi and I felt the language would limit the appeal. But trust Deepa to break the cultural barriers."

"I'm walking on sunshine. Do you know everyone discouraged me from doing Heaven On Earth and Heroes? But I wanted a change," she adds.

Pretty Zinta impressed by Aishwarya Rai

They have been contemporaries and rivals, all the same time. But Preity Zinta says it was nothing like rivalry between them when she was on the Bachchans' 'Unforgettable' tour recently. Instead, the actress says, Aishwarya Rai floored her with her hospitality during the tour.

When we asked Preity about things that she would never be able to forget about the tour, she was all praises for Ash. "Ash would treat us so well after the show. I used to tell her that it's the most memorable part of the tour as no heroine has ever treated another heroine so well," says Preity.

The actress explains that it was more because Ash was a host to them throughout the tour. "She was the 'bahu' and the host and she would always come around asking if we needed anything during dinner which would usually happen at Mr Bachchan's suite," says Preity. "She was really sweet and pampered me. I must say hats off to her for being such a big star in the world's right and at the same time put in such a great effort to fit into the family," she adds. That's indeed a pleasant surprise from the regular brawls with heroines regarding roles and such stuff. Wonder if Ash has similar kind words for the pretty woman Preity as well.

Apart from that, Zinta says that it was Big B who made the tour really unforgettable. "The most unforgettable experience definitely was to work with Mr Bachchan and see him delivering dialogues from his films released over the years. He did dialogues from his old films like 'Deewar', 'Agnipath' and then from 'Black' which brought tears into our eyes," she says. "And right after that, within 30 seconds, we had to go and dance to 'Rock n' Roll Soniye' and we used to fall flat on our faces. Because we were in such emotional high that we just couldn't start dancing," she says.

Preity had quite an eventful tour at that. Just before one of the shows she had also lost her stage costumes and she says she was in complete mess as no designer was willing to design for her without a pattern. "So I made my own outfit. I turned designer." she chirps. Seems like the tour certainly is going to stay 'unforgettable' for Preity for years to come.

Preity Zinta to impress audiences in Heroes

Preity Zinta is set to impress audiences in a new role- as a demure Punjabi girl who is a war widow of Salman Khan in the movie Heroes.

Asked why she agreed to do the film, Preity said, “I was at this phase in my life where I was refusing every film that came my way. I just wanted to do something different. And one fine day Sameer just walked in and narrated the script to me. I jumped one meter above my chair in excitement and said, ‘this is it’.

The film, directed by Sameer Karnik, features an ensemble cast that additionally includes Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Sohail Khan, Dino Morea, Mithun Chakraborty, Riya Sen, Amrita Arora and Vatsal Seth. It is slotted for release on October 24.

Preity plays Salman’s war widow –the sole winner of the family who single-handedly strives to bring up her son and keep the home fires burning.

Being the perfectionist she is Preity made a dedicated choice to go attend Anupam Kher’s acting school and learn how to portray the character of a rustic Punjabi woman. Anupam Kher tutored her on how to imbibe the local dialect and body language.

Samir Says, “Priety who is known for her bubbly, enthusiastic self worked on her body language and observed the locals there to portray the demure, silent but strong woman that her character is in the film. If you ask me, I think this is one of her best performances to date.”

One of the challenges Preity successfully overcame was to drive a tractor. The film has been shot on location in Ladakh, Chandigarh and Delhi. After Heroes, Preity will be seen in Deepa Mehta’s Heaven on Earth followed by Jahnu Barua’s Har Pal. She reportedly also plays cameos in Main Aur Mrs Khanna and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Celebrities at premiere of DRONA - part 1

Preity Zinta honoured with Smita Patil Memorial Award

Preity Zinta received the Smita Patil Memorial Award at the Priyadarshini Academy Awards ceremony yesterday (September 19) in Mumbai.

Preity received the award for her distinguished work in the film industry. The Priyadarshini Academy, which is engaged in socio-cultural and educational activities, has been conducting this award ceremony since its inception in 1984, honoring both national and international achievers.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was the chairman of the function while bigwigs such as industrialist Anand Mahindra, aviation minister Praful Patel, Maharashtra finance minister Jayant Patil, and Union petroleum minister Murli Deora also made their presence felt.

The Last Lear - Amitabh Bachchan performs his best

The film The Last Lear has travelled to some A-list film festivals across the world, where it has won rave reviews. Amitabh Bachchan's performance as Harry in the film has been unanimously praised by all and sundry. He has been showered with lavish praise like "his most nuanced performance" and "he offers a master class in acting". After ruling our hearts for decades, Amitabh Bachchan has stepped out to wow the world! Knowing the powerhouse of talent that he is, we are sure that these cannot be exaggerated compliments.

It is a proud moment for India as Indian films have begun getting recognized in the international world circuit. The excitement levels for The Last Lear have been high ever since the promos hit the theatres. Bachchan's long, flowing hair and rich, baritone voice has stood out amongst the other films. Preity has also been talking animatedly about her look in the film.

Knowing Amitabh Bachchan's illustrious filmography, there cannot be a bigger excitement for all his fans than the fact that this will be one of his best performances ever. The film releases today.

Preity Zinta goes for image change

Preity Zinta has cast aside her glamorous look and adorned a classy look for her new movie, The Last Lear. The movie is directed by Rituparno Ghosh.

Everyone is raving about her new image make over for the movie. Preity Zinta will be seen in classy Sarees and Shalwar Kameezes. And she looks ravishing.

As Preity Zinta herself says, “What a pleasant change it was, from all the dolled up work I have done. I got to play Shabnam, someone so real! I love my look in the film. Ever since the posters of The Last Lear are out, the compliments haven’t stopped coming in! Everyone’s look in the film is extremely different. You can trust Rituparno Ghosh to surprise everyone with his films, even his own actors.”

The Last Lear, which releases on September 12 th is generating a lot of curiosity Other than Preity’s image make over, Amitabh Bachchan and Arjun Rampal are said to have acted in the roles of a lifetime.

Also, Preity Zinta’ s fans are eagerly awaiting her return to the screen.

Heaven On Earth to be screened at Toronto Film Festival

Deepa Mehta's Heaven On Earth is to be screened at the Toronto Film Festival on 6th September at the prestigious Elgin theatre.

"It's the venue of all serious-minded films at the Toronto Film Festival meant for a discerning audience. Last year, the Coen Brothers' No Country For Old Men premiered there. This year I'm proud to have my film there in the 'Special Representation' section," says Deepa.

The film's leading lady Preity Zinta joins Deepa in Toronto for the Festival screening. "And that's when Preity will dub her portion of the film in Hindi", informs Deepa. The Punjabi film is now being dubbed into Hindi as a two-language film on the insistence of the film's Indian distributor Ravi Chopra. However, Deepa insists that the Hindi version will have a very restricted screening. "The language of the film is Punjabi," she insists.

And now begins the struggle to find the right voices to dub the Punjabi characters. "The entire cast barring Preity is from Toronto. They can only speak English and Punjabi." Deepa arrives at Mumbai next week to supervise the Hindi dubbing of Heaven On Earth. "Preity will have to do her portions in Toronto after her world tour with the Bachchans and also attend the Toronto Festival screening."

Preity Zinta returns with an unusual story

After having some bitter experiences at IPL, Preity Zinta returns to Mumbai with Deepa Mehta’s upcoming flick, "Heaven on Earth".

But she has an unusual role to play in the movie. According to sources, her lead pair is not any handsome hero with 6-pack abs or fancy dance moves but-hold your breathe- a snake.

Apparently the story of the film goes like this. Preity plays “Chand”, an innocent girl who is harassed by her in- laws after she marries a Canadian NRI, “Rocky”.

To her rescue comes a snake, which lives in her back yard and saves her from her abusive husband and in-laws.

“Initially, when Preity read the script, she was very excited about her character, but when the shoot began, it became hard for the actress to get deep into the skin of the character”, says a source.

Preity Zinta and Akshay Kumar become part of The Unforgettable Tour

Wizcraft International Entertainment today announced two Superstar entrants to their grandest, blockbuster world tour- ‘The Unforgettable Tour - Experience the magic’ led by Amitabh Bachchan and the performers include Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh. This massive tour will have an array of today’s biggest Indian Cine stars descending onto the world stage with their scintillating performances, promising to bring alive the magic of Indian cinema which will make fans rock across 6 continents, spanning 18 countries.

‘The Unforgettable’ world tour will commence in July 2008 and will take center-stage in mainstream international venues, promoted in conjunction with international partners and promoters.

Superhit machine Akshay Kumar and the star of umpteen box office successes, Preity Zinta are today slated among Indian Cinema’s biggest performers. In the last two decades, Akshay Kumar has come to be considered a powerhouse performer, appearing in over 80 films till date. With recent hits like Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Garam Masala, Welcome and the upcoming Tashan, he has carved a niche for himself with his heroic and thrilling stunts and his comic timing as well. Preity Zinta in a short span of time has made her way to the top with some of the biggest blockbuster hits playing her cherubic and bubbly self. She is the darling of the NRI audiences that ‘The Unforgettables’ will entertain.

Speaking on the occasion Akshay Kumar said, “I am elated to be on The Unforgettable Tour that will reach out to millions of Indian Cinema fans across the world. Touring with Wizcraft and Amitji, I believe that fans will be in store for a great journey of Indian Cinema and all the energy and excitement it has to offer.” Audiences will also get to witness Akshay perform songs from his forthcoming film, Singh is Kinng.

Preity Zinta shared the same sentiments, “It’s indeed an honour to be a part of a show of such a great scale and caliber and to be onstage with the Bachchans and others. It is always a delight to reach out to our fans and be a part of the tour, I intend on doing just that.”

Speaking on ‘The Unforgettable’ World Tour and the inclusion of the two mega stars, Viraf Sarkari, Wizcraft Director said, “I am delighted and honored that both Preity and Akshay have joined the Tour. The Tour is shaping up and promises to be one of the biggest and grandest world tours from India, bringing alive the magic of Indian cinema, on stage. In addition, we will have dazzling performances by the idols of Indian cinema- Amitabh Bachchan, superstar of the millennium, Abhishek Bachchan, hottest youth icon and Aishwarya Rai, one of the world’s most beautiful women, the multitalented Riteish Deshmukh and many more.”

Preity Zinta’s dream house in Shimla

Even while her home in Mumbai is being re-constructed, Preity Zinta had a dream and she's about to realize it. "I always wanted a family home in my home town Shimla. I'm now going to build a house there. The older one is in a locality that's so crowded I don't recognize it any more. Earlier it was just our house and lots of trees."

Preity has an ancestral land which she has been planning to use to build a dream house. "Now's the time to do it. Build a farmhouse where my kids and my brother's kids will grow up. It's a little away from Shimla near the golf course. A gloriously green patch. I want to make it completely eco-friendly. It's so difficult to acquire anything eco-friendly here in Mumbai. I'm trying to buy an eco-friendly car. But it's so difficult. But I am determined to buy an eco-friendly car. Look at the fumes in Mumbai. I'm more determined than ever to start building my home in Mumbai at the earliest." Preity is looking at entirely refurbishing her life. "Last year I badly hurt myself on my back and pelvis. I've been working on myself. We actors are constantly hurting ourselves and neglecting our health. Look at how much Shah Rukh has gone through. And the other day when I dropped in to meet him on the set of Om Shanti Om I saw him with a 6-pack. I was like…wow! I've seen him so unwell when we were shooting Kal Ho Na Ho. He's very inspiring, and not just on screen."

She describes this year of hers in the movies as the "India Shining Year.” "After so many years of shooting abroad I'm finally working in India. I just shot Samir Karnik's Mera Bharat Mahaan in Punjab. Came back with sunburn. Now I'm back to my normal self. I am in Mumbai for shooting after a long time. Apart from the crazy traffic and heavy rain I'm enjoying myself. But I wish Mumbai had places for recreation. Where does one go in Mumbai to relax? The other Sunday when I had a day off, I had no place to go! You go to either a restaurant or a movie. And it takes so long to get anywhere! It's very frustrating. You can't go anywhere. When I want to unwind, I go out of the country. We need more entertainment and sports centers in Mumbai. You can't have children and dogs in Mumbai. If I've children in Mumbai where do I stay with them? That's why I miss my home town Shimla."

Preity who was earlier looking at one assignment a year is now busy devouring scripts. "This is probably the best time for me. Look at Shah Rukh Khan in Chak De. There were conventional trappings. There're no hard and fast rules about what I can do and can't do. Strangely, I started my career playing an unwed mother, a prostitute, and a CBI trainee. Then I started doing more commercial films. Now it's time for me to do a different kind of film. Working with Rituparno Ghosh and Jahnu Barua there was a lot to unlearn about acting. And it's not as if I look at Last Lear or Har Pall as small films."
She's currently shooting for Jahnu Barua's second Hindi film Har Pall with Lilette Dubey and Shiney Ahuja.” I want to do work that excites me. I'm not the same actress I used to be. I want to do at least one film every year that pushes the envelope. I did Rituparno Ghosh's Last Lear and now I'm doing Har Pal…It's a totally new experience. I get to play a role I haven't done before. All the co-stars, directors, cinematographer are all new. I'm having so much fun. We've already completed one schedule. The director Jahnu Barua has a great sense of humor. Though he's very quiet, he knows what he wants. Isha Koppikar is a pleasure to work with." Then there's Rituparno Ghosh. "I just love him. He's too cute. He made me feel so comfortable during The Last Lear. Working with Mr. Bachchan was a treat for me. Then I had Shefali Shah and Divya Dutta and Arjun Rampal."

One of her most ennobling moments was when Preity recently gave away the bravery awards. "To meet a woman who fought a leopard with her bare hands to save a child, or a child who jumped into the fire to save another child. Or to meet a group of young Mumbaites who've started a private ambulance service, or a Devdasi who had a child at the age of 12 who has run away from her wretched life... believe me, there's no experience to equal these. Because of people like these 'Mera Bharat Mahaan' is not just a slogan. I don't want to get up every morning and thank God for what He has given me. I'd also like to give back."

Preity feels for the girl child. "When I went to the Bravery awards I said I was grateful to be standing there because my parents didn't kill me when I was born. When I was shooting for Mera Bharat Mahaan in Chandigarh, I went to a school where there were fifty boys and just eight girls. That shocked me. What's going to happen ten years from now?"

And what about marriage to a certain Mr. Wadia? "Each time I'm asked this, I go….ummm aaah! I'm a grownup girl and I don't have to hide my marriage plans when it happens. Everything happens in its own time." Maybe the housewarming and wedding can be combined in Shimla? "Ha, what if the house takes five years to make? I can't wait that long to get married," comes the retort.