Preity Zinta (born 31 January 1975) is an Indian actor and businesswoman. She was one of the leading heroines of Hindi cinema in the late 1990s and 2000s, known for playing confident, outspoken modern women in films such as Kya Kehna, Dil Chahta Hai, Kal Ho Naa Ho and Veer-Zaara. Since 2008 she has been a co-owner of the Indian Premier League cricket team Punjab Kings.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Preity G Zinta |
| Born | 31 January 1975, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India |
| Age | 51 |
| Occupation | Actor, entrepreneur |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Known for | Dil Se.., Kal Ho Naa Ho, Veer-Zaara, Salaam Namaste |
| Education | Convent of Jesus and Mary, Shimla; St. Bede’s College, Shimla |
| Spouse | Gene Goodenough (m. 2016) |
| Children | 2 (Jai and Gia) |
Early Life
Zinta was born in Shimla to Durganand Zinta, an officer in the Indian Army, and Nilprabha. She has two brothers. When she was thirteen her father was killed in a car accident in which her mother was badly injured, an event she has described as the moment she had to grow up. She studied at the Convent of Jesus and Mary boarding school, took an English honours degree at St. Bede’s College and went on to a postgraduate course in criminal psychology.
A chance meeting with a director at a friend’s birthday party in 1996 led to a television commercial for Perk chocolate, and a Liril soap advertisement soon made her dimpled face widely recognised.
Career
The director Shekhar Kapur recommended her to Mani Ratnam, who gave her a supporting part in Dil Se.. (1998) with Shah Rukh Khan. The same year she was the heroine of the hit thriller Soldier, and the two films won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. In Kya Kehna (2000) she played an unmarried teenage mother, an unusual subject for a mainstream film, and the film’s success showed she could carry a story on her own.
She was part of Farhan Akhtar’s Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and played a surrogate mother in Chori Chori Chupke Chupke. In 2003 she starred in three of the year’s biggest films: The Hero, the science-fiction hit Koi… Mil Gaya with Hrithik Roshan, and Kal Ho Naa Ho, for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Yash Chopra’s cross-border romance Veer-Zaara (2004), Salaam Namaste (2005) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) kept her at the top through the middle of the decade.
She turned to smaller dramas with The Last Lear and Deepa Mehta’s Canadian film Heaven on Earth (2008), in which she played a Punjabi bride trapped in a violent marriage; the role won her the Silver Hugo for Best Actress at the Chicago International Film Festival. She produced and acted in Ishkq in Paris (2013), then stepped back from films, returning briefly in Bhaiaji Superhit (2018). She later signed the Partition drama Lahore 1947, opposite Sunny Deol.
In 2008 she became a co-owner of the Mohali franchise of the Indian Premier League, then called Kings XI Punjab and now Punjab Kings. She is a constant presence at the team’s matches and takes part in its player auctions. The side reached the IPL final in 2014 and again in 2025.
Personal Life
In 2003 Zinta was the only film personality who did not retract her statement in court in a case about extortion threats made to the film industry by the underworld, for which she received the Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Award. She married Gene Goodenough, an American financial analyst, in Los Angeles on 29 February 2016. Their twins, Jai and Gia, were born through surrogacy in November 2021. She divides her time between Los Angeles and India.
Awards
Selected Filmography
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Preity Zinta born?
Preity Zinta was born on 31 January 1975 in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India and is 51 years old.
What is Preity Zinta known for?
Known for: Dil Se.., Kal Ho Naa Ho, Veer-Zaara, Salaam Namaste.
Featured image: Preity Zinta on the green carpet at the IIFA Awards, MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, July 2017. Photo by Laura Lee Dooley, licensed under CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
