Preity Zinta

Preity Zinta: Hi, good morning, everyone. Good morning. It's wonderful to be here. Thank you Jackie. And should we get on with it?

Interviewer: Yeah. We're just gonna have a pretty casual conversation about her work and a little bit about what her impact has been. So I'll go right into my first question. You're a celebrated Bollywood actress, and you're also the owner of a cricket team.

So tell me what that transition has been like, going from actress to businesswoman, because they're kind of two totally separate things. Tell me what that journey was like for you. Preity Zinta: Well, it wasn't the easiest journey, to be honest.

Because, you see, for a woman, cricket is a very macho sport. Mm-hmm. It's a man's world out there. It was easier to fit in, the world of cinema, as opposed to fitting in the world of sports.

But I think I'd like to rewind and go when I was a little girl. My father, he always told me that, Indian girls, when they're little, they're dependent on their fathers. When they are married, they're dependent on their husbands.

And when they are older, they're dependent on their sons. "So I do not want you to be like that. I want you to be independent.

I want you to, have a mind of your own. And the only way you can do that is if you are financially independent, you can work." So I always had that mindset that I wanted to work.

And it didn't matter if, whatever your field is, like, I studied criminal psychology, and I became an actor. So life is very spontaneous. It's not like you make plans and you say, "Okay, I wanna do this," but you end up doing something else.

So I didn't think when I was acting I would ever get into the world of sport. Mm-hmm. But one day, I found an opportunity, and I decided I wanted to do it. It was not the easiest, but it was a lot of fun.

I worked, 18-hour days. Geez. And eventually, when you look, when I look back and I think, if it isn't tough, if there isn't a challenge for you in life, then, it's not that exciting, you know? Right. When things just fall easily into your lap, I guess you don't appreciate them.

So, it's been a bit of an uphill journey, but it's been a fun journey. Interviewer: Well, since you've mentioned spontaneity, I want us to rewind, and I'd really like you to just briefly tell us how you got into acting, 'cause I think that was a really cool story. Preity Zinta: Okay. So I was studying, criminal psychology.

And my best friend's boyfriend went to audition for a movie. We were both very poor at that time, so we decided we'll share a cab. Whoever finishes first would pick the other person up.

So my exam got over, I took my paper, and I finished, so I went to pick him up, and there was this major audition happening out there. I of course, was always hungry at that time.

So since I didn't know what to do, I went to the corner and I started eating, and I saw the director out there, and he just looked at me, and he was like, "So what are you going to do for me today?" And I was like, "nothing." And he was like, "All right."

I said, "No, I'm sorry, I haven't come here to audition. I've just come here to pick up my friend." And so basically, he just grabbed my hand and took the mic, and he said, "Everyone, this is a classic case of cold feet.