The first thing I felt doing this, was TV is exhausting : Preity Zinta

The pretty Preity Zinta who had kept herself busy for two years with her IPL team Kings II Punjab is back to entertain this time on TV with Guinness World Record Ab India Todega. In a chat with TellyChakkar she talks about her first- time experience on TV, her childhood memories and something that could get her in the book of records. You took up IPL while you were doing films and now TV. Do you take your decisions spontaneously? I have been very spontaneous in my decisions the fact that I jumped into cricket quickly was a very big decision at the peak of my career. I did not even think much before I got into films. Shekhar (Kapur) gave me this big lecture as to how would it be being an actress, a big star so I said theek hai and rest I believe in destiny. What was that one thing that made you do this show? That Indians were going to break records and that it was just not another show and it was on a global platform and it was going to put me face-to-face with people from different parts of India. This was not about people who want to be stars. For they come with a pre-conceived conditioning that ‘I should look like this’ and ‘my hair should be like that’ and that ‘I will copy that actor and that actress’. But, here they were just normal people. I also took it for adventure. I love adventure I have done all from bungee jumping, scuba diving to sky diving. I used to do karate as a kid; I have done rifle shooting as I have been more of a tomboy. I think the show has suited me more for if I had to look like a model I would suffocate. Where there any other reasons too? Well, I did the show because I loved the format. I also did the show because Colors is wonderful and they completely adjusted their entire schedule around me. For I wouldn’t have been able to do the show if it had to be running into the IPL for then running from Punjab and Dharamshala and coming back here would have been very hectic. The entire Miditech team is great because on the first day of my shoot I had 500 people around me and I was a little nervous but they helped me. Can you narrate any of your childhood incidents? If I have to show you my childhood pictures you won’t recognize me and I can win a Guinness record for it. I am the only heroine who has a scratch, cut or a fracture in all her childhood photos. As a kid I did not look like a girl. I used to beat up boys. You think you are a boy till about 12-13! There is nothing girly about you and then you grow up with boys. I grew up with many boys and one thing I have learnt from them is if you have a problem say it there and then. Get into a scuffle and get over with it. But the problem with women is they keep taking it in and finally one day the pressure cooker bursts. Are you still the way you were as a kid? As a person yes, if I have an issue, a problem I will speak it out. Have you bashed up anybody? In Delhi yes, in Mumbai too, once or twice but let me tell you, girls, if you want to hit someone or if you do hit someone, you should just run. Always wear good shoes and you don’t have to be a commando. Just hit and run (Laughs). TV is completely a different medium for you so how difficult was it to adapt to it? Yes it is and I think the first thing that hit me about TV was the exhaustion because on the film shoot you’re always complaining about your shot not being ready. But here it’s like I had to ask them, ‘Can I go to the loo? Can I eat? Can I breathe! Can I please not have 400 people around me?’ So, yes when you are standing all the time on your feet and when you have live audience and you do not know what to say when people are talking to you because at times they kind of put you in a spot because people who come there do have a right to ask you questions and it’s not easy. I have performed best in the films where my directors have let me be myself. They have taken care of me. I am not perfect but my idiotic behaviour has been handled all the time. They have given me a lot of love and taken a lot of care of me and then I come out with an amazing performance. Hence, I told myself that since this show requires me to encourage the contestants, to break records I want to give people the time and the opportunity without hogging the spotlight. But at times they ask you things that are so cheeky and you can’t even doing anything about it. Did you ask the production house to edit part where you were probably caught off guard? I did but do you seriously think they would listen to me. (Laughs) I have learnt one thing that if you hire me don’t teach me how to act show me the direction. People have been here for 15-20 years and I will not stop them by telling them how to direct the show. But if there is something that is really personal to me of course I will politely request them to take care of it but I cannot remote control everything. There are acts which are very repulsive like people shoving knives inside their mouth. How did you manage to stand beside them? At times I felt I would faint. Like a friend of mine had come on the sets and she told me, ‘But why is your mouth open? I would get freaked out at times. There was one guy who was putting swords inside his mouth and tears were coming out of his eyes. It’s like mind over matter. You realise that there is so much more to a human being from what you see. I remember there was this guy during the Kargil war who was a subhedar; he got shot eight times and even then he went up and down rescuing people and still survived. If you put the same incident in a movie people say ‘film hai yaar yahan par kuch bhi chalta hai’. But I know it because I went to Kargil while doing Lakshya. So here is an opportunity to see people doing crazy things like a sandwich act we had. There was this band of people who were sleeping on nails. Like the first guy slept on nails then above him were nails on which another guy slept and then there was another person and another. You get to see different people. Then I met a little girl who was as feisty as I am in spite of being from a little village. This is why I feel India is so incredible. They can have a million scams but these people keep the spirit going. You are looking fit so is it a makeover for this show? Frankly, it’s because I am getting back to movies and entertainment. I had actually let myself go during cricket. What go, I was running (laughs)! When you’re doing movies you’re in front of the camera you have to wear short skirts and your mid riff is showing and you do not want to look bad. In cricket it was all about wearing the Kings II t-shirt and jeans without any make-up because I did not want to look like a heroine. I had put on seven and a half kilos then. What next? IPL then films.