Preity please

Two surprise red-carpet appearances and a movie announcement have everyone obsessing over Preity Zinta. The star behind the aughties’ biggest hits talks film wardrobe favourites, social media and keeping it real.

- SHALINI SHAH

WE'RE IN 1998. An era where, heaven forbid, a Bollywood heroine on screen shows a proclivity for warm accoutrements in breath-fogging temperatures. And there appears Preity Zinta, clad in all-black from neck to toe, wearing a New Zealand All Blacks beanie as she traipses along verdant countryside in New Zealand singing 'Soldier, Soldier' with a bouncy-haired Bobby Deol. The appearance of a practically dressed leading lady was to use Elsa Schiaparelli's favourite adjective-shocking. Even in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, the year's biggest box-office hit, it took out-of-control chiffon to make one Rahul wake up to the feminine charms of his 'one true love'. The sight of the beanie-clad actor was perhaps only less startling than when, a few months ago, , in her debut in Dil Se opposite Shah Rukh Khan, the country's biggest star, she stumped him with an unfazed, "Are you a virgin?"

Twenty-six years after her debut and eight years since she was last seen on the big screen, Zinta is once again claiming centre stage in our lives. She's set to return to film with Rajkumar Santoshi's Lahore 1947, slated for a 2025 release, but it's her classic fashion choices and perennially youthful energy that have audiences across generations clamouring for more.

A reel of Zinta's surprise Vogue World appearance in Paris in June in an ombre Rahul Mishra sequinned gown-garnered more than two million views on the Vogue Instagram account. In an exclusive interview with Vogue India, the actor admits she took an active role in styling the look. "I told my stylist Sonika Grover that I wanted to try something old school, so we should add a veil for a little bit of drama and mystery. I felt like a million bucks that evening," she says. "It's about time we are proud of our home-grown talent and showcase their creativity at global events with pride."