Preity Zinta, a Bollywood actress adopted 34 Indian girls in 2009.

She is involved in humanitarian campaigns for women and children. Recently, she visited the UK to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of East London. She is a UN Aids Goodwill Ambassador, fighting HIV/Aids transmission from mother to child. She said that women in India are often treated as second-class citizens in many places, so she felt inspired to help the 34 girls.

Preity Zinta spoke with Aasmah Mir for Outlook at BBC World Service and shared more details about her surprise birthday gift.

Indian media reports that Preity Zinta was born in Shimla in Himachal Pradesh on January 31, 1975. She had a difficult childhood, but she persevered through them to make a place for herself.

She celebrated her 46th Birthday recently. She was the most famous actress of the 90s. But, for the first time, she shared some details about her personal life and revealed that her parents died when she was only 15. Preity Zinta lost her parents and realized it was challenging to live alone. So she decided to adopt 34 girls.

According to the actress, Durganand Zinta was her father who died in a car accident when she was 13 years old. Her mother sustained severe injuries in the same accident. Preity, who was just 15 years old, was placed on bed rest for two years by her mother. After her parents' deaths, she decided to make her path and became more potent than ever before. Yet, in her private life, she has been simple since childhood.

In 2009, the Bollywood-dimple girl adopted 34 orphaned girls at Mother Miracle orphanage in Rishikesh. She pays the entire cost of the girls and visits them twice per year.