Preity Zinta who is known to rule the early 2000s in Bollywood, was born on January 31, 1975 and celebrates her 43rd birthday today. The diva entered the tinsel town and her dimples were the first thing that the fans went crazy for. Before Deepika Padukone, it was this bubbly actress who was instantly tagged as dimple queen of B- town. Preity debuted in 1998 through Mani Ratnam’s film ‘Dil Se’ opposite Shah Rukh Khan in a short role. She stole everyone’s hearts with Kerala themed Jiya Jale jaan jale with SRK and then there was no looking back for the pretty star. But let us not forget that Preity is more than just those beautiful dips in her cheeks. The versatile roles that she chose in her filmy career till now is quite understated and we need to re- visit some of her roles to appreciate them!

Sangharsh: The coy- chirpy girl took up a serious role of a CBI officer just a year after her debut. Her role as a strong headed, yet sensitive Reet Oberoi in this Akshay Kumar- Ashutosh Rana’s thriller still remains one of the best characters she has portrayed on the silver screen.

Dil Chahta Hai: The curly haired ‘Shalini’ added life to this story based on friendship and love starring Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna. Yet again, she was that decisive girl who chose her responsibilities over her own wish, eventually getting married to the love of her life.

Kal Ho Naa Ho: The word ‘chashmish’ became cuter only because of this innocent and beautiful neighbor of SRK named Naina Catherine Kapoor. She portrayed wonderfully the character of a geek who falls in love with the guy next door and her transformation as a person after that.

Lakshya: Preity was seen as a brave journalist, Romila Dutta, who risks her life to be on the battle field to cover the incidents as they are happening. She also experimented with her look as she sported a short haircut in the latter half of the film.

Veer- Zaara: Love was redefined with the role of Zaara who is totally committed to her long-lost love Veer, until they re-unite. It was amazing how Preity captured the nuances of a young, vibrant lady to a hopeful aged woman with such ace.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 31, 2018 12:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).