Preity Zinta has reacted to the disappointing box office performance of Batwara 1947, which marked her return to the big screen after eight years. Despite the film’s underwhelming run, the actor said she remains proud of the project and believes that while actors can control the effort they put into a film, they cannot determine its eventual fate.

Preity Zinta on Batwara 1947’s box office performance

Speaking to Mid-Day, Preity said she focuses on giving her best while working on a film rather than worrying about how it will perform after its release.

“First of all, I am very proud of the film, and it’s a very overwhelming experience. And as an actor, I am always managing expectations. Once I am working, I put in my 100 per cent.”

Preity said she believes in doing her work sincerely and leaving the outcome to God.

“As I said earlier, I believe in karma (deed). You do your karma and then leave the rest to god. You can’t control what happens. So, you work as hard as you can on every film; I give my 1000 per cent and then leave the rest to God.”

Batwara 1947, directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and produced by Aamir Khan under Aamir Khan Productions, stars Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi, Karan Deol, Ali Fazal, Abhimanyu Singh, Khushi Hajare, Kanikka Kapur and Isha Sandhir.

The film was reportedly made on a budget of Rs 150 crore. However, it received a mixed-to-negative response and collected only Rs 38.80 crore net in India.

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Preity Zinta on her upcoming film Vibe

Preity will next be seen in Kunal Kemmu’s upcoming directorial Vibe, in which she plays an undercover agent. The actor said the role allowed her to explore a side of her that audiences have not seen before.

“The leader on the set was Kunal because he is the captain and the director. This is the first time I have played such a stone-faced, serious, kuch bhi kardegi character in a funny space. I have never done anything like this before, and it was completely different. I am really excited to see what people think about it.”

The role also required Preity to perform several intense action sequences. She underwent extensive training and built muscle to achieve the physicality Kunal wanted for the character.

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“When I knew I had to do a lot of action, I trained a lot. I bulked up and built muscle because I wanted to look tough, and Kunal was very sure that he wanted the character to be very strong and aggressive. So, I just followed his lead, and I am thankful that he imagined me in a role like this,” she said.

Produced by Kunal Kemmu and Chirag Nihalani under the banner of Drongo Films, Vibe stars Kunal alongside Preity Zinta and Sparsh Shrivastava. Vanshika Dhir, Yashpal Sharma and Dinesh Lal Yadav also feature in the film.

Vibe is scheduled to release in theatres on September 18.