The first time that I met Preity Zinta, I was accompanied by Karan Johar to lunch where she joined at us at the Olive. I remember I was a wearing a hideous yellow teeshirt and Karan couldn’t stop rolling his eyes about my sartorial bankruptcy. “What would Preity think?” he warned me.I think he was teasing.
As it turned out Preity , otherwise most fashion conscious, didn’t think anything about my teeshirt(which I’ve preserved over the years to remind myself of how badly I dress). We hit it off instantly .We knew each other over the phone from the time when Preity was dating Marc Robinson(okay, I admit I had to google his name to remember ).
I remember I was impressed by her during my first(telephonic) interview because she referred to herself as an ‘actor’ , not ‘actress’. I hadn’t heard that from anyone before. Not even Shabana Azmi.
Over the years we’ve remained friends, though never crossing lines. There is always a boundary, albeit a pleasant one at that. Once Preity shocked me by telling me that a very major female actor whom I was taken up with, had complained to the owner of a publishing group about an article by me.
Preity’s words still ring in my ears. “Write a thousand pro pieces. But if you write one anti piece you become their enemy.”
She is right. Today that actress whom I couldn’t stop raving about, doesn’t even acknowledge me. Preity and I still friends. Just before the pandemic I got a message from her in LA saying she’s coming to Patna for an event.
“The event is a bahana. I’m coming to Patna to see you,” she chuckled as only Preity can. True to her word , she tore through her tight 8-hour schedule in Patna to come home for much, much to the annoyance of the events organizers. She was with us at home for almost two hours.We gossiped and bitched about the whole world.
Preity is a talker. She loves to talk. But she’s also a caring loving friend . When she has news about herself she calls and gives it off the record. I recall her distressed call and my shocked response when that incident at the stadium with industrial tycoon had happened. Preity didn’t cry. She believes in making her enemies cry.
She is one of my rare relationships in the entertainment industry which never soured . It couldn’t. The line between the personal and the professional is gently but sharply drawn.
I want Preity to know that I value our 20-year association. She had once told me, “If there are only ten people at my wedding you would be one of them.” That didn’t happen. But I want her to know that the offer should stand closed. I want her marriage to be for keeps. And that’s Goodenough for me. Sorry, Preity, couldn’t resist that!!!
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