A report in this newspaper on an alleged and imminent break-up in her romance with the dashing Ness Wadia has made her furious. That, coupled with loose talk that she was more than friendly during the IPL with cricketer Yuvraj Singh, the captain of her King’s XI Punjab team, has made the lovely Bollywood actress see red. And turn red. I watched her cheeks glow with indignation, dark eyes flashing, as she tore into the allegations over a coffee with me that never came because the cafe’s espresso machine broke down.

“I’m tired of silly rumours,” snapped Preity, “they mar my reputation for being me, it’s a heavy price to pay for being normal. Just because I’m female doesn’t give anybody the right to take that respect away from me. I want to be respected in my work. I earned it in my ten years with films. I now demand it in sports.”

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Preity Zinta’s stint with cricket has been a very good one with her Mohali Indian Premier League team reaching the semi finals in the inaugural edition of the T20 cricket league but this damsel says working in movies is any day a bigger high for her than cricket.

“Movies are any day more special for me than cricket. I just finished dubbing for Heroes and Har Pall,” she says. “I am back (in Bollywood) with a vengeance if you ask me because finally after sitting on the line (out of Bollywood) and waiting to do something, now it’s my turn to do something,” she says.

Priety will have a tighter schedule this year as she would be touring with the Bachchans for The Unforgettables Tour that kickstarts in July. “There will be a lot of variety. Each show in a different city will have something different to offer. I have not started rehearsing yet. Of course I will be dancing to my hits but there may be a lot of mixing around too with the songs. The idea is to give something creatively and visually different to the masses every time we perform,” she asserts.

And what does Preity think about the competition Shah Rukh Khan and company might pose for their tour with King Khan announcing the Temptations Reloaded tour?

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Bollywood actress Preity Zinta said her preoccupation with Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier and now the 'Unforgettables' world concert did not mean that she has put her film career on the backburner.
"I have four back-to-back releases this year starting with Jahanu Barua's 'Har Pal' with Dharmendra and Shiney Ahuja, 'Heroes' with Salman Khan, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, 'The Last Lear' with Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal and Shefali Shah and Deepa Mehta's 'Heaven on Earth'," Zinta said.

The actress said she was presently dubbing for 'Har Pal' and shooting for 'Main aur Mrs Khanna'.

However, she declined to divulge any details of the films.

She said her forthcoming releases are a natural progression for her from a mainstream commercial film actor to doing meaty roles with substance.

'Har Pal' has the original screenplay and is an out-to-out commercial film which is high on emotions. 'The Last Lear' will see her playing an upcoming actress while in 'Heaven on Earth' she plays a battered housewife.

She said she had reached a stagnation point with the films she was doing.

"I was going through the same grind and naturally wanted some challenging work. When you grow older, you need more substance. I am fortunate that when I yearned for a change, it came from all sides," she added.

"The NRI bracket associated with my films because all of them were shot abroad, was killing me. Hence, I decided to go desi in my forthcoming films," she added.

Preity pointed out that she never had a glamorous image in films.

The IPL jamboree and hoopla over, Preity Zinta took off for a quiet week-long holiday at a place where there was no noise, bustle and cellphones. “The worst thing is I wasn’t even allowed to talk. Can you imagine... me not talking?”

Rejuvenated, she’s raring to get back to films. “I didn’t realise how much I had been put behind. I have so much pending work. Four films are at different stages of completion. I’ve to immediately start dubbing for Harr Pal and Heroes. Then I leave for the world tour with the Bachchans.”

For my buddies

In Heroes, she stars with one of her favourite co-stars Salman Khan, for whom she has agreed to do an item song in the Salman-Kareena starrer Main Aur Mrs Khanna.

Preity corrects, “It’s Salman’s home production. And he is a buddy. But it’s not an item song, really. It’s an interesting cameo. And I’ve agreed to be in the film because the director Prem Soni is a dear friend.

And since Salman has played Prem so often, let’s just say this one is for Prem.”

Mohali team hogged all the limelight as pretty Preity was the manager the handsome Yuvraj was the captain of the team. During the IPL Preity and Yuvi had developed a special bond infact the actress even encouraged him to buy a condo in the posh Bandra vicinity.

Ness Wadia was so impressed with his team’s performance that he threw a bash; Yuvi was the star of the evening. The Mohali team captain Yuvi made an early exit from the party by saying he needs to rest well for the big game the next day and Preity-Ness were bowled over by Yuvi’s sincerity and dedication. However sources say that Yuvi headed to Prive in Mumbai to party and he was hanging out there till dawn. Yuvi didn’t make it for the net session the next morning and he also failed to perform against Chennai Super Kings. Preity was upset about her team losing the match but when she learned about Yuvi partying all night long the Moha-lee team manager got into her Bruce Lee avtaar.

Preity Zinta has done it all. She is one feisty actress who has portrayed the bold women of today and has done justice to all the characters she has played so far. Then be it the unwed mom in Kya Kehna , a woman involved in a complicated live-in relationship in Salaam Namaste , or a career oriented ambitious woman tackling her husband's infidelity in Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna . After successfully pulling off the candid, bold woman image, Preity is once again ready with yet another unique role where she will play a widow!

An insider revealed, "Preity Zinta is bound to bag not only accolades but loads of awards for her performance in Heroes as this is by far her career's best performance!"

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Preity Zinta’s jaadu ki jhappi is certainly working its magic for the Yuvraj Singh-led Mohali team. Several of the Punjab King’s XI team — including coach Tom Moody, Brett Lee, Sreesanth and Mahela Jayawardene — landed up late Wednesday night at Henry Thams in Colaba to celebrate their thrilling victory over the Mumbai Indians.

What was even more heartening was the presence of some Mumbai Indian players at the bash, including Lasith Malinga, Shaun Pollock, Ajinkya Rahane and Andre Nel. That’s called sporting spirit. And adding to the spirited mood was the Manchester United versus Chelsea soccer match being aired live. Ness Wadia joined Preity and Yuvraj (all three are die-hard Man U fans) to party and enjoy the game.

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Success comes at a cost and Preity Zinta knows it. Her jadoo ki jhappis to her boys in the Mohali team after their every win, are making news but what people have forgotten are the jibes that came her way when she first got into the business of cricket.

She was mocked as the girl who hardly understood the game but had bought a team, she was sneered at when the VIP box during her matches was strangely bereft of any VIPs and Ness’ mother Maureen Wadia reportedly even wondered if her son would be a victim of fraudulent practices after investing in the IPL team with her. With all the success that her team has gathered and her Cannes appearance, a lot of people have to eat crow, and PZ has something to crow about. Here’s all...

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Preity left for the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday morning at a time when she's neck-deep in IPL affairs. “Can't help it, yaar," she phoned and groaned groggily from Frankfurt airport. "It's been two years now that I've been the brand ambassador for Chopard and it requires me to be at Cannes every year, come what May… pun intended."

Understandably, she's exhausted. "But I'm also exhilarated," she's quick to add. "IPL has been a learning experience," remarked Preity.

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Preity Zinta will make a blink and miss appearance at Cannes only to return and cheer her Mohali team in Delhi

The who’s who of the world film fraternity is going to be there throughout the ongoing Cannes film festival. But for Preity Zinta, this prestigious event is not more important than her presence at the Indian Premier League matches.

Preity flew to Cannes for a pit-stop like appearance but will not prolong her visit there. She will return to cheer her team Mohali’s next IPL match against the Delhi Daredevils scheduled for Saturday in Delhi, an insider said.

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Preity Zinta has always been one to put things into perspective. Whenever I have asked her about any of her link ups, she has always set the scores right, “You think love happens so easy, scientists have explained it as a chemical reaction emitted by your body.” That was a novel way of pushing the candles, chocolate and mush theories out of the window. With the woman of lotta words, you even bought that logic. But we wonder whether she has an equally good explanation when it comes to hate.

Chemistries are the foundation on which Bollywood is built. Movies that are skeletons of a writer’s vision are turned into unforgettable romances, no small thanks to the off screen antics of lead couples who can enact several moods and complicated emotions. But however great their craft, they cannot reflect the emotion through the eyes that can make the world beyond the lens and think that the duo share a little more than signatures on the dotted line of the film contract.

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Preity left for the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday morning at a time when she's neck-deep in IPL affairs. “Can't help it, yaar," she phoned and groaned groggily from Frankfurt airport. "It's been two years now that I've been the brand ambassador for Chopard and it requires me to be at Cannes every year, come what May… pun intended."

Understandably, she's exhausted. "But I'm also exhilarated," she's quick to add. "IPL has been a learning experience," remarked Preity.

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