She added that there are artistes, who are more talented than her and who could have done the film. But by bringing her star power to the film, she hoped to give the film a wider profile. "Through this film, I can touch a lot of lives," she enthused. "Sometimes I think of abused women, who are locked up in their rooms but are able to watch this film on DVD. I hope they will then get the courage to do something about their abused condition."
In the film, when the line between fantasy and reality starts to blur, Chand has to make some urgent decisions. She has to come in terms with who she really is and make a choice between a life of freedom or fear.
"It is the question of pushing the buttons," Zinta mused. "Sometimes you push the button of imagination; other times, it could be a very different button. What is most important is that we should have the strength to push these buttons and get out of abusive relationships."
The Indigo event drew more than 300 people, about one third of them being South Asians.
A fan asked her what was more terrible, a woman facing an adulterous husband or living with a husband, who abused her physically. "You have dealt with these issues in two films," the fan said, referring to Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and Heaven on Earth.
"Both kinds of abuse are bad," Zinta said. "You marry a person because he will stand by you under any circumstances. You marry a person, who is your hero and to see him become the villain is really sad. To kill someone's spirit as an adulterous husband or partner does is equally bad the physical or emotional abuse."
As for the slapping misfire, Mehta says that Vansh Bhardwaj, whom she had seen first at a performance of Naga Mandala, and Preity Zinta got along fabulously. Bhardwaj is a well known name in Indian theatre and has performed in many well-known plays in major Indian cities. Mehta adds that she had briefly wondered if the actor would be 'diffident to Pretiy's star status.'
'As it turned out, I had nothing to fear about,' Mehta has said in the press notes for the film. 'The discipline that Vansh had imbibed working with Neelam Mansingh Chowdhary, who had directed him in Naga Mandala held him in good stead and Preity was extremely generous in sharing with Vansh the 'film language' she had garnered over the years. I had fully known how big a star Preity is. But there was no star behaviour while we discussed the film and when she came to Toronto for the shoot. She was an artiste at the service of the film.'
Also Read: The Preity Zinta interview
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