Preity Zinta on 7-year break from acting: ‘People forget women have biological clock; nature is not equal’

Preity Zinta, who is all set to make her acting comeback with Lahore 1947, revealed she cries when has to go to work. 'I feel guilty', said the Veer-Zaara star.

In an interview with DD India, Preity Zinta talked about the reasons behind choosing not to work in films for six years. (Photo: Preity Zinta/Instagram)

Preity Zinta, who made her comeback at the Cannes Film Festival after a gap of 17 years in 2024, is all set to make her acting comeback with the Bollywood film Lahore 1947, starring Sunny Deol. Preity, who was one of the most sought after actresses of her time, recently opened up about what made her disappear from the industry and not be involved in many projects. The actress highlighted how despite women wanting equality, nature is not equal to them and there’s a biological clock that needs to be taken into consideration.

In an interview with DD India at Cannes, Preity Zinta spoke in detail about her acting hiatus. The Veer-Zaara star said, “I didn’t want to do a film. I was focusing on my business. I wanted to focus on my personal life. People forget that for women as actors… yes, your craft is important, yes you want your body of work. But, there’s a biological clock. So, I never dated anybody in the industry. The logical thing was I had to also have my own family. It’s great to live various lives (as an actor) but, you shouldn’t forget to live your own life. So, I wanted to have children. There’s always a film and then I was also very excited about a business as it was something different. But, mostly it was… I wanted to focus on my personal life. So, I said ‘I am going to focus on that part of me because I really don’t want to be an accomplished actor but a lonely person’.”

She added, “Everyone was telling me ‘you will miss the bus and the truck and the train’ (she laughs) and I was like okay. Now, I am laughing about it but its true and its for every women who works out there. Everybody tells you and you tell it to yourself that I want equality and I want to work as hard as a man. But, you have a biological clock and nature is not equal to you so you have to leave what you are doing and focus on that.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Preity G Zinta (@realpz)

Story continues below this ad

Preity, who welcomed twins — a daughter Gia and son Jai, in 2021 with her husband Gene Goodenough, also talked about how now that she is back in the industry, she feels ‘guilty’ to leave her kids at home.

ALSO READ | Mom-to-be Deepika Padukone shares new photos as Bollywood backs her amid trolling, fans call her ‘ray of sunshine’. See pics

She said, “Now, my kids are two and a half and I am back at work. I am loving coming back to work, but I have so much guilt everyday. I feel like I am missing out and my daughter Gia and son Jai look at me and say ‘mumma please stay with us’ and I start crying, And then I am telling myself, it’s okay there are so many other women out there.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Preity G Zinta (@realpz)

Preity Zinta, who was last seen in the 2018 film Bhaiyaa Ji Superhit, is currently shooting for Lahore 1947. The film is being helmed by Rajkumar Santoshi. The project marks the first ever collaboration between actors Sunny Deol and Aamir Khan. While Deol will headline the film, Khan is backing the film under his production banner Aamir Khan Productions. Reportedly, the film’s script is based on Ashghar Wajahat’s famous play, Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya, O Jamyai Nai. It is a story of a Hindu family that was left behind in Lahore, Pakistan.

Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.

Tags:
preity zinta

Pakistan, Bangladesh among 50 countries now with lower US tariffs than India

Business16 min ago

After securing trade deals on his terms with partners such as the European Union (EU), Japan and South Korea, US President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on India by imposing lower tariffs on more than 50 countries including Pakistan and Bangladesh, compared to the 25 per cent levied on India, a new set of reciprocal tariffs released on Friday showed.

View all shorts

More Entertainment

Entertainment Meena Kumari was thrown out of the house she bought by her father, paid him Rs 2 lakh to get married; was treated as a 'meal ticket' by her family