Preity Zinta has opened up about her long awaited return to Hindi cinema with Batwara 1947, revealing that the movie changed her mind regarding women’s lives in the Partition era of India. She’d been away from films for eight years after marrying Gene Goodenough and raising her twins Gia and Jai in Los Angeles, and she said the experience made her appreciate the freedom and choices women have today.
Preity had no plans to go back to acting despite getting a number of film offers. She was more into family life now (and she just loved time with her kids). But an unexpected call from Aamir Khan made her reconsider. The film, backed by Aamir Khan’s production house and directed by the great filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi, was the film that brought her back on stage.
Preity at first believed she was being offered a light-hearted comedy. But during a Zoom narration, Santoshi introduced her to Batwara 1947, a period drama about the Partition of India. She recalled being moved deeply by the script, in particular the ending dialogue, and was there in the moment to join the project. According to the actress, the makers were quite surprised at how quickly she accepted their offer.
Having a movie set to work on after such a long time off is difficult. Preity said she was nervous about going back in front of the camera in her first meeting with Rajkumar Santoshi, the director whose work she had known for years. In order to invite her back in the movie to act with a simple scene, Santoshi challenged her by arranging one of the most emotionally painful scenes for her to make on the first day of shooting.
She joked that the filmmaker had “decided to torture” her but said that it ultimately helped her regain confidence. She was grateful for co-star Sunny Deol who made it so much easier. After they had worked together in Farz and Bhaiaji Superhit, Preity said Sunny had a calm and reassuring nature and helped her cope with her anxiety. She said he was a kind-hearted, generous and reliable co-star who was still very much in touch and supportive.
When thinking about the subject of the film, Preity said she had always wanted to be part of a period drama. She was initially so fascinated by the clothes and food, architecture and lifestyle of historical movies. But when shooting started, she realized that to reproduce that period also meant to portray the limited roles women were expected to play in society.
She recalled asking Rajkumar Santoshi repeatedly what her character should do in different scenes and getting the same instructions each time— cook, clean, stitch clothes and take care of household duties. At first she was upset about the repetition of those tasks. She then went on to say that in 1947 women had very few opportunities outside the home. And unless they were freedom fighters, their lives were largely centered around their husbands, children and domestic duties.
That conversation stayed with the actress. Preity said the experience gave her a sense of how lucky modern women are to have opportunities to choose careers, choose partners and make life decisions their own way. Although today’s women still face challenges, the choices that they hold are far wider than the ones back in the Partition period.
She also thought about her life and said she never regretted stepping away from the film industry to be with her family. She said she didn’t miss acting during her break because she was more focused on motherhood. Preity says having kids and creating a family are her life’s greatest accomplishments and they far surpass anything else that’s happened in her film industry.
Interestingly, she believes that this personal experience allowed her to better understand her character in Batwara 1947. She still thinks of her family as the top priority in 2026 and she can relate to women whose whole lives revolved around their homes in the 1940s.
Looking ahead, Preity will be seen in Kunal Kemmu’s Vibe soon, but she is not interested in doing long-form web series anytime soon. Shooting a series often requires actors to stay away from home for six to eight months, something that she cannot do while her children are young.
With her twins in the United States, Preity expressed that though Gia and Jai are half-Indian and half-American, she wants them to grow up with strong Indian values while also incorporating the best aspects of both cultures. And if parents can’t be in control of everything in their children’s lives, she said they can always work to provide the best upbringing for children.
Batwara 1947 will be released on August 14 and will be one of Preity Zinta’s biggest acting comebacks and will feature a cast of famous actors and crew including Sunny Deol, Rajkumar Santoshi, Santosh Sivan and music maestro AR Rahman.
