Preity Zinta is leaving Bollywood for Harvard

Preity Zinta is leaving Bollywood for B-school. “Yes, I’m going to the Harvard Business School to study a short executive course in negotiating and deal-making,” she says. “I thought that since I spend so much time in the US, I might as well use the experience better. I applied to Harvard and got accepted, so I’m quite kicked about going there next month.”

So does this keen interest in business mean we won’t be seeing her much on the big screen? “Not at all,” she says, “I want to make sure that I can balance acting and business. In fact, I’m currently buried under a pile of scripts and am reading each one to make sure that I don’t miss out on anything good. I want to do a role that I’ve never done before.”

She’s also busy with the television show Behind the Seams which she is hosting and producing. But Zinta admits that she hasn’t watched television for the past two months. “TV soaps have these close-ups of people in dark black kohl and it really scares me,” she says. “Reality shows are also staged, so there’s nothing real in them. So what’s there to watch?” Behind the Seams too is a kind of reality show as it takes you through the journey of the Kings XI Punjab team. “It’s a reality show but there’s no acting involved. It’s about cricketers and you really can’t expect cricketers to start acting,” she laughs.

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Behind The Seam Update

The show, which will be produced by Siddharth Basu’s Synergy Adlabs, will give the actress a career boost.
Preity takes a keen interest in sports and is the co-owner of the team Kings XI Punjab. Preity’s show will even feature players of IPL fame ‘King’s Eleven’ team and will telecast on the weekends. Source

Preity ok being a ‘bechari’, than a ‘bitch’

Thursday night-Friday morning, as a heavy rain lashed Mumbai, Preity Zinta slipped out, taking a flight to London and from there to Preity Zinta
places she did not want to disclose… where she had “shoots to complete, ad films to make, business meetings to attend, and a couple of other things bunched together”.

She won’t be back till October, but said she was excited to get out, I did not blame her. Since Preity’s disastrous outing at the IPL in South Africa, where I don’t know which was her greater loss – cricket or love, the press had been on her case. “I don’t deny the fact that I’m single,” she had told me then. “I’ve not spoken about my personal life and I won’t do it now. I’d rather be the bechari than the bitch!” I did not ask about Ness Wadia, instead, I asked if men hit on her again. “Sure,” Preity had replied with her dimpled smile, “all the time, but the press hits on me as well!” Then, with some josh, “But I’m the same person, with the same values, just because I’m single it does not mean I’m breaking marriages. Don’t link me with every Tom, Dick and Harry.”

Now we spoke again as she completed last minute chores, the clock throwing silent minutes into the night, taking her closer to departure time. She had spent the last three weeks in Mumbai working on Main Aur Mrs Khanna (yes, it’s Kareena Kapoor’s film, but with Preity), there’s a little bit of dubbing left, and the film is being readied for Diwali. Her other film Har Pal, with the unfortunate rape accused Shiney Ahuja, will hopefully be released by the end of the year. She has two new films on hand, but has been reading more scripts, and is also working on a cricket show for television. “It’s called Behind The Seam and is going to be a look through my eyes at cricket in South Africa. Yes, I’ve restricted myself to the IPL, but the show’s much more than that. I’m producing it. What do you mean who’s idea is it? Mine, why! My idea of cricket was different before the IPL. I thought, you held the bat, threw the ball, got applauded if you hit a six, cursed if you got out! Besides the crazy cricket fan, that’s what everyone sees. So I’ve taken people behind the scenes, where the hard work and the heartache takes place, yes, yes, I’m in it, the camera follows me everywhere in South Africa. Except into my personal life… you won’t find it even here!”

She has been making brave statements about next year’s IPL, about how she’ll be there, because she’s not just financially involved with her team, but also emotionally attached to the business of cricket now. “That’s how I am, that’s my personality, if I’m not attached, I cannot be passionate about what I’m doing,” she had said. But there are many more runs to be scored in international cricket, records to be broken, before the IPL gets down to business again. And even if she is not into cricket then, Preity Zinta will always be an actress, so come in Bollywood! “I’m going to pull out a lot of surprises,” she promised. “This year, the films that will release will release, but now I’m excited because my career is going exactly the place I want it to go. I’ve always wanted to go in different directions and grow.

That’s why I ventured into cricket. And as an actor, I’m my own factory, I’m looking at doing films that add value to my body of work. Like The Last Lear, Heaven On Earth, Heroes… I feel so good I did them, they’re away from commercial cinema and take lesser time to make, and yet they take me to another horizon.”

But now she wants to get back to commercial cinema, she wants to be the actress that people would like to see. “Farah Khan was shooting me the other day and I had on this robe with a sexy thing underneath. I refused to take it off. Farah asked, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ And I replied, ‘Punjab Cricket Board kya sochenga?’ So, I’m looking at being the quintessential Preity Zinta again, but with an edge,” she said. I didn’t want her to lose her flight, but I had a question to ask: was she happy, finally? “As much as I can, I’m enjoying every moment of my life,” Preity replied.

“People can say what they want, the press can say what it wants, I’m not going to give five interviews to clarify… the fans judge me by the way I perform. Now I’m in my own space. I’m like a jack-in-the-box. When I’m in, I’m down. But once I’m out, I’m out!”

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Back on Track

We’ve seen you only at cricket matches for a while. Have you decided to stay away from Bollywood?
No way, I will never leave this industry. The business of cricket just kept me very busy. I did some roles that I really wanted to do without thinking about it commercially and I was just taking it easy. I also went for a long holiday where I did a lot of shopping.

Did you take the holiday to get over your relationship?
I took a three-week holiday after the IPL last year too so I don’t know what all this fuss is about. If people think that’s the reason, let them. I don’t really care what everybody thinks. When you’re down and out, it’s easy for people to kick you. I’m very happy and I don’t care about anything else.

Are you going to get back to the glamour industry now?
I’m actually very excited to be back. When I was shooting the other day, I realised just how much I’ve missed the glamour factor. When you do business or serious roles, it’s mentally taxing. It felt good to do something frivolous and just enjoy it.

And you’re returning with a television show?
Well, I do have two films— Mr and Mrs Khanna and Har Pal. But, yes, I’m most excited about the new TV show on cricket called Behind the Seam which I will be a big part of. It’s a really interesting show about cricket. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at everything about cricket, except the match itself.

Does this mean that your stint in business is over?
The businesswoman Preity is here to stay. While I will be attached to the film industry, I want to try my hand at more businesses. I’m definitely going to branch out to more than cricket.

Has the new lot of heroines taken over your territory?
I admire the new lot of heroines. They are so well groomed, not like when I came into the industry and was such a tomboy. These girls already have the perfect hair, perfect make-up, perfect clothes. But I have no interest in dancing to a few songs and just hanging around in a film anymore. I don’t want to do that but somebody will and that’s the job of the newer lot. The kind of roles that I’m being offered, they don’t have the experience to do that. It would be like asking me to crawl after I’ve started running.

Will the Shiney Ahuja incident affect the release of Har Pal?
It’s such an unfortunate incident. My heart goes out completely to his parents and wife. But nothing can affect a good film. And what have Dharmendra, Isha Koppikar and I done wrong? It’s three against one here and I’m sure the film will do just fine.

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