India, May 12 -- In the early and mid-2000s, when Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukerji, and Kareena Kapoor were vying to be the top stars in Hindi cinema, there was one name that they always had to contend with. Preity Zinta may not have been the highest-paid star of her times, but always found herself in the biggest hits and most-talked about films. At her peak, she was among the top Bollywood heroines of her generation. But she was much more, as one of the only Bollywood stars to stand up to the Mumbai underworld, and also probably the only actor on the planet to refuse Rs.600 crore. (Also read: How an actor's career was ruined by one line: Once rival to Shah Rukh, Aamir Khan, he changed his name, left India)

Filmmaker Shandar Amrohi, the son o...