Preity Zinta has being awarded the best actress award at the Chicago International Film Festival for her performance as the battered Punjabi wife facing domestic violence in Deepa Mehta’s Heaven On Earth.Preity was overwhelmed with the accolade saying: " am so happy and excited. It was my director Deepa Mehta who informed me on Saturday afternoon that I had won. I couldn’t go to Chicago, and neither could Deepa. Without any lobbying I’ve done it."She has other reasons to celebrate too. Her film Heroes is doing pretty well on the domestic front.Preity is immensely thankful to Anupam Kher. "I attended his acting school to get my Punjabi right for both the roles. He taught me how to pronounce the words properly. He has been a blessing."Deepa Mehta said of the success: "It’s amazing, isn’t it? I’m so happy for Preity. She’s luminous in Heaven On Earth - just like Shabana Azmi in Fire. Coincidentally, Shabana was the other actress to win the Best Actress Award at Chicago. "I don’t think any other Indian actress has won this award. I’m happy Preity is getting rave reviews for Heroes. I’ve seen bits of her performance in Heroes. And in fact it was that performance which reassured me that I had made the right choice for Heaven On Earth."

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