Preity Zinta had been happily raising her twins in Los Angeles with her American husband Gene Goodenough when she received a call from her ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ co-star, Aamir Khan. A film offer from him wasn’t entirely unexpected, she had continued to get offers over the decade since she moved to the US after marriage, even though she’d turned them all down. But this particular offer came with a name she’d wanted to work with for years, Rajkumar Santoshi.
Preity Zinta expected a comedy, got a Partition drama
“I first thought it’d be some cool comedy,” Preity revealed to the media in Mumbai on Tuesday, according to Indian Express. Her expectation made sense, considering Santoshi’s history of helming cult comedy hits like Andaz Apna Apna (1994) and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009). But she was left surprised when the director narrated the plot of his upcoming Partition drama, Batwara 1947, to her during a Zoom call. “I told them right after the narration, once the last dialogue was said, that I’d do it. They were quite surprised,” she said, prompting Santoshi to clarify, “Why surprised? We were happy.” Little did Preity realise the whirlwind that lay ahead of her the moment she landed in Mumbai to start filming.
Preity Zinta reveals nerves before shooting began
“There were a lot of nerves. I was always excited about working with Raj ji, but I’d never worked with him before,” Preity confessed. There was hardly any breathing room after she landed, her look test was completed before she could even retrieve her luggage. A couple of readings followed the next day, and shooting began soon after. “He decided to torture me by putting the most difficult scene of the film on the first day,” Preity remembered. What eased her nerves, though, was discovering that Sunny Deol would be her co-star, someone she’d shared screen space with 25 years earlier in Raj Kanwar’s 2001 action thriller ‘Farz’. Notably, her previous film outing had also been alongside Deol, in Neeraj Pathak’s 2018 action comedy ‘Bhaiaji Superhit’.“I was just looking at Sunny that how do I do this? I love him! He’s a wonderful, big-hearted, kind, and decent human being to work with. He said, ‘Don’t worry, he likes retakes. Relax. Kuchh khayegi?’ Because main toh dheeli ho gayi thi,” Preity revealed. Having returned to a film set after eight long years, she had figured Santoshi would go easy on her, perhaps with a straightforward walking scene to start things off, much like other directors typically would. “But he just cracked the whip and said, ‘Chalo!’,” Preity shared. Since the hardest scene was tackled first, everything that followed on the shoot felt considerably easier by comparison.
Preity Zinta says Sunny Deol hasn’t changed a bit
Preity found comfort in seeing that Sunny Deol hadn’t changed a bit over the years. “He’s always been a really good actor. Thank god there was no change! He’s still excited, gets great food, and is still shaant. The only thing is, I’ve never done a scene with him where he loses it. And there was one scene where he just lost it suddenly, and we all were shaking (laughs). But for me, this film would’ve been very difficult if I didn’t have the comfort of him,” Preity admitted. Amid an otherwise “foreign and different” set, she also had familiar faces in Dil Se.. (1998) cinematographer Santosh Sivan and composer AR Rahman. “I’ve never met AR Rahman except once during Dil Se.., when I only asked to meet him,” she revealed, adding that even producer Aamir hardly visited the set, barring a single day.“I was dying to do a period film. I always romanticized with the kind of era it would’ve been, the clothes, and the food. You’re always curious,” Preity said. However, a rude realisation hit her once she arrived on the set of Batwara 1947. “When I used to do ask Raj ji what to do in a scene, he’d say, ‘Preity, aap khana banao.’ Next scene, ‘Preity, aap safai karo.’ Next scene, ‘Preity, aap stitching karo.’ I said, ‘Raj ji, come on!’ He said, ‘This is 1947. The only career you can have is of a freedom fighter. There’s no other career. Your career is your husband, your children, and your home,'” she recalled.Returning home after her time on set left Preity overwhelmed with gratitude for being born in this era and country. “Because when you look back at the pain and resilience people had, I’m only grateful, especially as a woman, that I can work and marry wherever I want. I have choice. There was very limited choice for people. For women, there was no choice at all. Your whole life began and ended with family,” she reasoned. “It doesn’t matter what’s happening here or there, but what’s happening within our homes. When world events happen, it’s only retrospectively that you conclude what happened at a macro level. When you’re going through something, your first instinct is my family and me,” Preity added.
Preity Zinta says she never missed acting
That sentiment holds true for her even today, which is why acting was never something she missed during her time away. “I didn’t miss it, to be honest. I don’t want to lie by saying I did. I was having a family. It was new to me. I was focusing on my personal life. However big my career milestones might be, my greatest milestone was to have children and a family. And that’s why I could identify with this film. Even though it’s 2026, my number one priority is my family. So, imagine in 1947, how it must be! It’s a very different worldview with a different lens in those times,” Preity argued.Following ‘Batwara 1947’, set to hit cinemas on August 14, Preity’s next appearance will be in Kunal Kemmu’s directorial action comedy ‘Vibe’, releasing the following month. That said, she remains uncertain about venturing into longer formats the way several of her peers have. “I’m not sure about series, to be honest, because they take too much time, and I have very little children. I’m grateful I have a good husband, who’s okay with me going away for two months, especially with little children at home. For series, I may have to stay here for six to eight months. Then what’s the point if I’m not there for my children? A lot of people don’t have that choice. But when you’ve worked and have choice, you have to make the right choices. So, my choice right now would be, at least till my children are very little, I wouldn’t want to be too away from them,” she said.
Preity Zinta on raising her twins with Indian values
Raising her four-year-old twins, Gia and Jai, in the US, Preity is nonetheless confident that they’ll remain connected to their Indian roots. “My children are half-Indian and half-American. Culturally, they’re 100% Indian because most of the values come from the mother. That’s just how it is. Mothers are more involved, especially when the children are little. So, I’d like my children to take the best values from both the countries. There’s no hard and fast rule. As long as we’re taking the good qualities, that’s my hope. Beyond that, you can’t control anybody. You can just try to do the best as a parent. Before becoming a mother, I had a million opinions on how it should be, but I’ve realized now there are limitations with what you can do,” Preity said, wrapping up the conversation.
