'Mohabbatein' fame Preeti Jhangiani looks back at her Bollywood journey: 'Didn't have enough experience in choosing right scripts'

Preeti Jhangiani won hearts with her Bollywood debut film 'Mohabbatein' in 2000. After the Aditya Chopra-directorial, the actress appeared in quite a few films and then went on a sabbatical. The Free Press Journal caught up with her for an exclusive interaction recently. Excerpts:

Despite being a part of several Hindi as well as regional films and playing different characters, Preeti is still remembered as the 'Mohabbatein' actress. Asked how it feels, Preeti says, “It’s fantastic. How many people get a chance to say that I have that one thing that people will remember forever? And I feel it’s like a kind of role and a movie that people will remember forever. I feel blessed and lucky to have had that.”

According to her, the thought of becoming an actress had never crossed her mind. “It was never my dream or my ambition to become an actress. I think it’s been a beautiful journey. I went where life took me. I never planned anything. I never had a proper manager or charted out a plan for my career. I’ve been fortunate for God to have held my hand and taken me everywhere,” she explains.

Preeti made her acting debut at the age of 19 in the Malayalam film 'Mazhavillu'. “When I did my first film, my director taught me how to stand in front of the camera and how to deliver dialogues. I did a couple of Telugu films and ad films before Mohabbatein, and I felt slightly trained. But the training that Yash Raj gave us for the eight months before we shot the film was phenomenal. I learned every aspect of an actor’s life, from voice throwing to diction, theatre training, folk dancing and Kathak and Bharatnatyam for my character. Adi also trained me, and Karan Johar had also shown me heroine ki adayein,” she gushes.

After her big Bollywood debut, the majority of her subsequent films didn’t do as well at the box office. Elaborating on what went wrong, Preeti shares, “Some films did really well like Awara Paagal Deewana. A major part of the choices didn’t go as planned. I think that was also the time when the industry was facing a bad time. Let’s just put it to not having enough experience in choosing the right scripts or not having somebody to help me chart out my career plan as I should have. I was doing favours for people rather than choosing the correct scripts for my career. I suppose today I would be a little hard-hearted.”

Asked if she has any regrets, Preeti states, “I don’t think anyone can say that they’ve gone through life without regret. So, of course, I have a few regrets like a couple of films which I should have done or should not have done. But overall, it has been a great journey.”

Spilling the beans on making an acting comeback, she reveals, “I am reading a lot of scripts, to be very frank. I’m sure there will be something that I will be a part of. It will most probably be something on OTT.” She is also producing a film with a big studio. “We are casting for the film, which glorifies women and speaks about women’s power. It is something we are excited about.”

Not many people know that besides being an actress, Preeti is also a businesswoman who co-founded Swen Entertainment with her actor-husband Parvin Dabas. She also launched India’s first professional arm-wrestling league Pro Panja League in 2020.

“My husband and I started the league. We have supported each other throughout, and wherever he was not able to be there, I was there, and vice versa. Although the germ of the idea came from him, we have grown it together. I would say I am better at the business side of it, like speaking to sponsors, procuring deals and sitting on the accounts and finance. On the other hand, he looks at the creative aspect of how we will present the sport,” she says.

Preeti feels great to be a part of the sports industry which is known to be male-dominated. "It's something a lot of people have found newsworthy, though I don't think it should be. Why are there not more women leaders in the world of sports entrepreneurship? There is no reason why they shouldn't be and abroad there are more ladies who own football and other teams. But yes, the number of men is still more and I hoping that it will change soon," Preeti signs off.