Preity Zinta: 'I never went to acting school, but I got things right on set'

New Delhi, Aug 15

Actress Preity G Zinta has opened up on the roles that she has portrayed on the screen, saying that though she never went to an acting school or a workshop, she just wanted to get things right on set.

Preity recently celebrated the 20 years of the cult science fiction film 'Koi…Mil Gaya', starring Hrithik Roshan in the lead. She has done numerous roles in movies like 'Dil Se', 'Sangharsh', 'Kya Kehna', 'Salaam Namaste', etc.

The roles she had portrayed were often deemed culturally defiant, along with her unconventional screen persona. Was this a conscious decision?

Preity told IANS: "There was a definitive understanding for me, even though I never went to an acting school or a workshop, I just wanted to get things right on set, to be honest. Script wise, whichever director gave me a script that made sense to me and the character aligned with my beliefs, I gave it my all. Even doing songs is very very difficult, you have to do them well."

"I have always wanted to do different roles, something that challenged me or showed women in a positive light, different and progressive manner as opposed to just as an object of desire," she said.

The 48-year-old actress further said: "I also had a very strict family back home, so I did not take up any work that would get me in any trouble at home. It was a mix of everything. When I started out I just wanted to do the right thing and things that appealed to me as a person."

"I did not have the luxury of thinking about how I would be perceived as an actor altogether, I just knew that I personally aligned myself with every character and performed them to the best of my ability," she added.

The actress made her acting debut in 1998 with Mani Ratnam's romantic thriller film 'Dil Se…' starring Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala.

On the work front, she was last seen in 2018 film 'Bhaiaji Superhit', which was an action comedy film starring Sunny Deol, Arshad Warsi, Ameesha Patel and Shreyas Talpade.