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On the eve of the release of Aamir Khan’s production, Batwara 1947 we got a rapid-fire with Preity Zinta, who makes a comeback with the film after a gap of seven years. Her last release was Bhaiaji Superhit, also opposite her hero in the latest film—Sunny Deol.
Excerpts from the interview.
This is your first film with Aamir Khan after Dil Chahta Hai. But he is only a producer here. What attracted you to the film?
Rajkumar Santoshi-sir (the director) was always in my bucket-list. Plus, I liked the story and its theme that in the darkest times there is always a ray of hope. People will see this as a story of a country facing Partition, but for me it was the saga of a family. And something very different.
Did you learn anything from the film?
I am enjoying my life, very happy enjoying each stage of it. I would often romanticize about being born in a different time. Back in 1947, I realized that a woman’s life was all about stitching, cooking and cleaning. Women had no careers but for family, and their only life was home. Thank God, today a woman in this country can manage both family and work. We have all choices now, especially women.
I am very independent! I work, I travel. I live overseas but I can come here and work whenever I want, and for that there is a sense of gratitude. Uss samay kya kya logon ne saha (How much people must have tolerated then)! But they just learnt to live with resilience and strength, which is what we can learn from them. We complain about minor things but never appreciate enough.
I was also disturbed by the fact that people then really thought that they were going away from their homes for a short while migrating, so they even left behind their valuable things like jewelry. It was a sad time.
How has the industry changed since you left the industry?
I think what has changed is how people are consuming content. Social media now plays a big part. We also did so many promotional tours. But cinema itself is more or less the same. I am very proud of India today and how Indians are rocking the world. Even in films, our earlier movies would be about NRIs (non-resident Indians), but now it is about our heroes, our famous generals, our going to Mars. It’s so beautiful! India is among the oldest civilizations. We were always so advanced, but no one gave us our due. Today, we claim that due.
You have done many films with Sunny Deol.
His entire family is close to me. I have done films with them all: Dharmendra sir and I did Har Pall, a film that never released. Bobby is a friend from even before I came into films. With Sunny, I did Farz, The Hero, Heroes, in which I was not cast with him, the delayed Bhaiaji Superhit and even a cameo in Dillagi, which Sunny produced and directed. Bobby was my co-star in a scene in it, and we also worked together in Soldier.
In fact, when we did Farz, I was quite scared of Sunny! I did its entire shooting under some stress! That was because I had once called up Bobby at 11 pm at night in the pre-mobile days, and Sunny had picked up the phone and hollered to me, “Is this a time to call?” That was the real love between them.
On the other hand, a few years later, I realized that Sunny was quite a techie boy—I saw the first Apple computer at his place.
But the Deol family is special. The love and respect shown to elders and everyone is genuine, not fake and that is beautiful. There is another family that has the same values—Salman Khan’s family.
Did you miss acting after your marriage?
No way! I am playing the best role of my life—as a mother. I have always been No. 1 for myself, my likes and my life. But till you have your own kid you don’t really start appreciating your mom. I was quite a tough kid, and I hope my kids don’t do that to me.
