Happy Birthday, Preity Zinta: Bollywood's Jaan-E-Mann@43

Bollywood's favourite, the very pretty, Preity Zinta, who shot to fame with her stunning performances in films like Kya Kehna, Mission Kashmir and Dil Se, turns 43 today. Preity, who is also heavily involved in humanitarian work returned to the big screen in 2013, after a sabbatical of sorts.

Here's a pictorial look at her life and career so far!

This image was posted on Facebook by officialpz

Preity Zinta was born in Shimla on January 31, 1974 to Army officer Durganand Zinta and Nilprabha. Her father died in a car accident when she was 13 and her mother suffered severe injuries and was bed-ridden for two years.

The actress studied at the Convent of Jesus and Mary boarding school in Shimla and did her post-graduation in Criminal Psychology at St Bede's College in Shimla.

Preity began her life in showbiz with advertisements for Liril and Perk. She auditioned for Shekhar Kapur's film Tara Rum Pum Pum and was reportedly cast as the female lead. But the film never took off.

In 1998, Preity made her Bollywood debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Mani Ratnam's film Dil Se. Despite starring opposite big stars like SRK and Manisha Koirala, Preity's performance grabbed eyeballs and bagged the Filmfare Award for Best Newcomer.

The same year, Preity starred opposite Bobby Deol in Soldier and was applauded for her performance.

In 1999, Preity earned critical acclaim for her character in Tanuja Chandra's Sangharsh. The film was an Indian version of Silence Of The Lambs and Preity played Jodie Foster's role.

Acclaim also came her way for her role as a teenage single mother in Kya Kehna (2000).

The bubbly actress subsequently played a variety of character types and worked with the top actors of Bollywood in films such as Mission Kashmir (2000), Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001) and in doing so has been credited with changing the image of the Hindi film heroine.

Koi... Mil Gaya opposite Hrithik Roshan in 2003 was her biggest commercial success.

The actress received her first Filmfare Best Actress Award for her performance in Karan Johar's Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003).

In 2004, she was praised for her performances as a journalist in Farhan Akhtar's Lakshya, co-starring Hrithik Roshan, and as a Pakistani woman who falls in love with an Indian army officer in Yash Chopra's Veer Zaara, co-starring Shah Rukh Khan.

Preity was also noted for her portrayal of the independent, modern Indian woman in Salaam Namaste (2005) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), both top-grossing productions in overseas markets.

In 2007, Preity appeared in her first English film - Rituparno Ghosh's The Last Lear - in which she featured as a struggling film actress opposite Amitabh Bachchan.

She bagged her first international film role in the Canadian film Heaven on Earth (2008), for which she was awarded the Best Actress (Silver Hugo) award at the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival.

Preity featured in Ishkq In Paris in 2013, which she also produced. The movie was touted as her comeback film but received a lukewarm response at the box office.

In 2011, Preity forayed into television as the host of the show Guinness World Records - Ab India Todega. Later that year, she hosted the celebrity talk show Up, Close & Personal with PZ. She also returned to the small screen as judge for Nach Baliye 7 in 2015.

Preity Zinta married Gene Goodenough in an extremely private ceremony in Los Angeles in February 2016. Gene is based out of US.

Here's to wishing her a very happy birthday!