Thursday night-Friday morning, as a heavy rain lashed Mumbai, Preity Zinta slipped out, taking a flight to London and from there to places she did not want to disclose… where she had “shoots to complete, ad films to make, business meetings to attend, and a couple of other things bunched together”.

She won’t be back till October, but said she was excited to get out, I did not blame her. Since Preity’s disastrous outing at the IPL in South Africa, where I don’t know which was her greater loss – cricket or love, the press had been on her case. “I don’t deny the fact that I’m single,” she had told me then. “I’ve not spoken about my personal life and I won’t do it now. I’d rather be the bechari than the bitch!” I did not ask about Ness Wadia, instead, I asked if men hit on her again. “Sure,” Preity had replied with her dimpled smile, “all the time, but the press hits on me as well!” Then, with some josh, “But I’m the same person, with the same values, just because I’m single it does not mean I’m breaking marriages. Don’t link me with every Tom, Dick and Harry.”

Now we spoke again as she completed last minute chores, the clock throwing silent minutes into the night, taking her closer to departure time. She had spent the last three weeks in Mumbai working on Main Aur Mrs Khanna (yes, it’s Kareena Kapoor’s film, but with Preity), there’s a little bit of dubbing left, and the film is being readied for Diwali. Her other film Har Pal, with the unfortunate rape accused Shiney Ahuja, will hopefully be released by the end of the year. She has two new films on hand, but has been reading more scripts, and is also working on a cricket show for television. “It’s called Behind The Seam and is going to be a look through my eyes at cricket in South Africa. Yes, I’ve restricted myself to the IPL, but the show’s much more than that. I’m producing it. What do you mean who’s idea is it? Mine, why! My idea of cricket was different before the IPL. I thought, you held the bat, threw the ball, got applauded if you hit a six, cursed if you got out! Besides the crazy cricket fan, that’s what everyone sees. So I’ve taken people behind the scenes, where the hard work and the heartache takes place, yes, yes, I’m in it, the camera follows me everywhere in South Africa. Except into my personal life… you won’t find it even here!”

She has been making brave statements about next year’s IPL, about how she’ll be there, because she’s not just financially involved with her team, but also emotionally attached to the business of cricket now. “That’s how I am, that’s my personality, if I’m not attached, I cannot be passionate about what I’m doing,” she had said. But there are many more runs to be scored in international cricket, records to be broken, before the IPL gets down to business again. And even if she is not into cricket then, Preity Zinta will always be an actress, so come in Bollywood! “I’m going to pull out a lot of surprises,” she promised. “This year, the films that will release will release, but now I’m excited because my career is going exactly the place I want it to go. I’ve always wanted to go in different directions and grow.

That’s why I ventured into cricket. And as an actor, I’m my own factory, I’m looking at doing films that add value to my body of work. Like The Last Lear, Heaven On Earth, Heroes… I feel so good I did them, they’re away from commercial cinema and take lesser time to make, and yet they take me to another horizon.”

But now she wants to get back to commercial cinema, she wants to be the actress that people would like to see. “Farah Khan was shooting me the other day and I had on this robe with a sexy thing underneath. I refused to take it off. Farah asked, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ And I replied, ‘Punjab Cricket Board kya sochenga?’ So, I’m looking at being the quintessential Preity Zinta again, but with an edge,” she said. I didn’t want her to lose her flight, but I had a question to ask: was she happy, finally? “As much as I can, I’m enjoying every moment of my life,” Preity replied.

“People can say what they want, the press can say what it wants, I’m not going to give five interviews to clarify… the fans judge me by the way I perform. Now I’m in my own space. I’m like a jack-in-the-box. When I’m in, I’m down. But once I’m out, I’m out!”

Mumbai, July 13: While the rest of B-town top-notch dames and hunks have maintained a stoic silence on Shiney Ahuja, who has been in news for allegedly raping his 18-yr-old housemaid, Preity Zinta has come out defending the actor. Keeping up with her gutsy attitude and outspoken ways, the actress has lashed out at gossipmongers making merry over Ahuja’s infamous incident.

Even though the actress is believed to be at loggerheads with Ahuja over professional reasons, she has still come out in his full support. Speaking to a news daily, the dimpled beauty said, “It`s very easy to slam someone when they are down. I think whatever`s happened is really unfortunate. I do have enormous faith in the judiciary and I`m sure they will do justice. The person also has parents and a family. One must think about what`s going on in their hearts and minds.”

As for her reports that she is down and out after her much publicised break-up with the Wadia scion, the actress has snubbed them all as mere fabrications. “I have changed for the better. I`m single now and I would like to respect the relationship I had. I wouldn`t be with someone if I haven`t had an amazing time or for that matter if both of us haven`t had a great time. It`s over now and we both have moved on and I have a lot of respect for that person, so I would not like to dissect anything,” she said.

And as for the question whether they’ll continue to jointly own their IPL team, Preity said, “Of course we are still friends”.

Well, here’s one actress who is bold and beautiful and doesn’t shy from speaking her mind.