Preity Zinta Birthday Special: What can we learn from some of Preity Zinta's most memorable characters?

There's a lot more to Preity Zinta than the bubbling demeanour she has always been known for. If you closely follow her films and characters, there's something to be learned from each one of them. And if you've followed her trajectory like an ardent fan, the first thing you'll learn is that she's surely more than just... bubbly.

She made her Bollywood debut in 1998, and right from her first film, the audience knew a Star was about to be born. She was known for her winning smile and those dimples, but she wasn't just playing her characters to scintillate, there was a lot more to them than their scorching personas.

As the actress turns a year younger today, we try to decipher what can some of her most memorable and iconic characters teach us:

1. Dil Se- Always Ask That Question

Mani Ratnam's charming and gripping Dil Se isn't just a drama about terrorism, the filmmaker, just like all his films, has laced it with heartwarming moments that are all heart. And it also comes with its fare share of humour. In what is one of Zinta's most incredible scenes, she asks Amarkanth Varma, played by Shah Rukh Khan, her prospective groom, if he's a virgin. Khan, known to charm his ladies with effortless ease, is left silenced at her audacity and frankness. It's good to see the tables being turned on him. Every time you go to meet a prospective bride or groom, always ask this question with an unapologetic glee.

2. Sangharsh- To Fight Your Fears

Tanuja Chandra's Sangharsh was the scariest and the most traumatic cinematic experience for me when I saw it as a kid. Ashutosh Rana merely started as an actor and was already known to illicit dread and danger with his chilling and cold-blooded characters. Zinta played CBI Officer Reet Oberoi, who has been assigned the task of nabbing Lajja Shankar Pandey, a hideous and remorseless fantastic who's on the loose. But she's scared of darkness and this fear constantly acts as a hindrance in her assignment. With the help of Aman, a professor played by Akshay Kumar, she's able to overcome her fear. Not all of us will have Amans in our lives, but it's important to overcome our fears, or fight them till we feel free.

3. Kya Kehna/Salaam Namaste- To Be A Lone Ranger

Both Kya Kehna and Salaam Namaste had Zinta play a feisty and independent girl who gets pregnant before marriage. And coincidentally, are nearly dumped by the same guy, Saif Ali Khan. She refuses to abort the child and chooses to be a Lone Ranger. She gets Khan back in Salaam Namaste, refuses to accept him again in Kya Kehna. Men will be men, but Zinta shows how women can be independent of them and be, as stated above, a Ranger.

4. Chori Chori Chupke Chupke- Even An Escort Has A Heart

Chori Chori Chupke Chupke was a fair departure from Abbas-Mustan's fascination for pulpy thrillers. It was one of the first few films based on the theme of surrogacy. The surrogate mother in question was Madhu, one of Zinta's most underrated performances. She is an escort who first mocks the childlessness of Raj and Priya but later warms up to him as she becomes pregnant. Since it's impossible for the men in white to lace the narratives of their films sans a twist, she falls in love with him. Zinta and the film showed how an escort can also have a heart and how it's crucial to humanise them on the celluloid, also giving the actor an opportunity to chew on a meaty part.

5. Kal Ho Naa Ho- Friendship Is The First Step Towards Love

Shah Rukh Khan declared to the whole world how love is friendship in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Debutant director Nikkhil Advani slightly tweaked this life lesson and asked the same actor in his film to announce to the whole world again that friendship is the first step towards love. And the first person he taught this to was Zinta's Naina, a bespectacled bore who falls in love with him. What she doesn't know is that her best friend Rohit has fallen in love with her. All the life lessons in this love-triangle were imparted by Khan, but since Zinta finally understood what love is, we can too!

6. Lakshya- Always Have A Lakshya

Romilla Dutta is a no-nonsense and an incredibly focused woman who knows what she wants in life and from life. She's an aspiring journalist and has her aims and ambitions clear. Her boyfriend Karan Shergill is a slacker and good-for-nothing, the kind of aimless boys we all have encountered in our lives. She always says, "Karan ki life mein Lakshya nahin hai." And ultimately walks out of his life one day. Karan's reason to join the Army again after running away stems from this personal loss and heartbreak, and not for the love for his country. Romi's love has reformed him and this leads to the birth of a fearless soldier. Maybe there is no love without Lakshya!

7. Veer-Zaara- True Love Knows No Boundaries And Age

The fact that true love knows no boundaries has been established in hundreds of films in Indian Cinema. Shah Rukh Khan even said in an interview all the stories in India are love stories. Yash Chopra's Veer-Zaara was one such tale of unrequited passion filled with pain and pathos. It was the story of an Indian man and a Pakistani woman, but religion was never the conflict of their romance, subterfuge was. They both meet again after 22 years, relieving the moments they spent whey then were together in the unforgettable Tere Liye track. Veer-Zaara was a masterclass in how true love never dies, and who better than Chopra himself to declare that?

8. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna- Just Give A Tight Slap!

Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is one of the only few films dealing with the issue of extra-marital relationships where the husband and wife don't reunite in the end. The other one being Mahesh Bhatt's Arth. Zinta's Maya has a flourishing career but a crumbling marriage due to her husband's insecurity and infidelity. Full credit to Johar for giving Shah Rukh Khan this character. How ironic to see an actor who has always preached about true love cheating on his wife for another woman! When Maya is struck upon with the reality, she doesn't break into tears or a monologue, she just slaps him across the face. Well, here's another lesson out there, cheating husbands don't need to be questioned or emotionally blackmailed all the time, all they sometimes need is one tight slap!

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