In recent years Preity has turned her focus from acting to business. She became the first and youngest female owner of a cricket team in the Indian Premier League. However her team, Kings XI Punjab, have been thrown out of the IPL for allegedly infringing the rules of franchise ownership.Apart from her involvement in films and cricket, 35-year-old Preity has testified against Mumbai's mafia in court, and in 2004 she cheated death twice in two weeks. First in a bomb attack in Sri Lanka, and again in the Thailand tsunami.
As a result of those tragic events, Preity got involved in humanitarian campaigns, especially those relating to women and children. She is a UN Aids Goodwill Ambassador - working against the transmission of HIV/Aids from mother to child - and works with the Loomba Trust to help widows and children. On her 34th birthday she decided to give herself a surprising gift - she 'adopted' 34 Indian girls.
She says that "in a lot of places in India, women are treated like second class citizens," so she wanted to give the girls an education and a better chance in life. She pays for their schooling, their clothes and food and any recreational activities.
In recognition of her humanitarian and film work, she has just been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of East London. Preity Zinta came into the Outlook studio and spoke to Aasmah Mir about her extraordinary life.
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