She disapproved of them trivializing her career, said, “I didn’t come into show business for glamour. I had ample of it in the modelling world, Liril soap or Cadbury chocolate. Then Mani Ratnam sir asked me to do a cameo in Dil Se and it was followed by Soldier and Kya Kehna. Sangharsh was interesting because I played a journalist and interacting with Mahesh Bhatt was a bonus”.
She was fortunate to work with the best directors and actors. Vidhu Vinod Chopra cast me in Mission Kashmir because she looked the part and over a period of time did two more films with Hrithik Roshan, his home banner, Koi… Mil Gaya and Farhan Akhtar’s Lakshya. Before Lakshya she did Dil Chahta Hain with Farhan and wondered what kind of role she could play in a story about three friends, but her character made an impact and Preity said there’s so much to learn just watching your colleagues. “Honey Irani’s writing of Kya Kehna! brought me stardom, so it didn’t take me a minute to say ‘yes’ to her directorial debut Armaan, even though I played a self-destructive, slightly imbalanced character.
To be continued