She was last seen in a cameo in the Salman Khan-starrer Main Aur Mrs Khanna (2009). And since then, actor Preity Zinta has been away from the arc lights. But now, she is set to hit the big screen again with her maiden production venture, Ishkq In Paris (IIP). And what’s interesting is that The Dalai Lama inspired her to get back into the world of lights, camera and action.
She talks about this new-found inspiration saying, “We were playing this Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Dharamshala… it was the last match and we lost. If we had won it, our team would have made it to the semi-finals. With a heavy heart, I accepted defeat. The Dalai Lama was present there. Next year, the same thing happened and I was very upset. The Dalai Lama, who was sitting beside me, said, ‘It’s okay, don’t worry about it.’ To which I said, ‘Sir, with all due respect, it’s not okay. I don’t play to lose, but to win.’ He said, ‘If you play to win, you should play in your own field. I don’t see you holding a bat, so how can you win this match,’” says Preity, the co-owner of the IPL team, Kings XI Punjab.
The actor adds that The Dalai Lama said “something very profound” to her during that meeting. “It took me less than a millisecond to understand it. I didn’t want to address it at that point, but then I was like, ‘Why not? Let’s do it.’ I got inspired again to work in a film. And then I met (director) Prem Raj and he said let’s make this film. And I immediately said, ‘Let’s start writing it.’ That’s when we started writing the script in Dharamshala,” says Preity, who launches the first promo of IIP today.
{{/usCountry}}The actor adds that The Dalai Lama said “something very profound” to her during that meeting. “It took me less than a millisecond to understand it. I didn’t want to address it at that point, but then I was like, ‘Why not? Let’s do it.’ I got inspired again to work in a film. And then I met (director) Prem Raj and he said let’s make this film. And I immediately said, ‘Let’s start writing it.’ That’s when we started writing the script in Dharamshala,” says Preity, who launches the first promo of IIP today.
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