The star, plays a migrant woman, who overcomes the trauma of an abusive marriage through her spirituality and imagination in Deepa Mehta's crossover film.
"I had reached the stage in my career where I felt I was stagnating. Of course, the commercial hits were raining and it was great but somewhere inside me I felt 'where is my growth'?," the actress told reporters.
However, the star was quick to add that she has not bid adieu to commercial cinema but would like to explore more intelligent and meaningful roles in near future.
"Today with commercial hits people remember you for a year or two but when I am old or dead what are the films that I will be known for? I want to have a body of work that inspires the actor inside me and helps me grow in my craft," the actress said.
Zinta, however, thanks her commercial success for allowing the opportunity to choose films that inspire her.
"Now I have reached a stage in my life where I am very secure financially and I am spreading my wings and flying into different directions. I have the freedom to choose films that excite me enough to get up in the morning and go to work," Zinta said.
‘Videsh’, scheduled for release this Friday in India, has already won Zinta her first internation award as the best actress at Chicago film festival.
The film explores the lives of first generation migrants in Canada and their struggle to survive in an alien country and revolves around the life of Chand, a spirited Punjabi girl, who survives an abusive marriage using her religion and power of imagination.
"The film talks about abuse, immigration and power of imagination. It is about hope. To me Chand is not a victim in the film. She decides to fight back and finds the strength to do so within herself," said Zinta about her character in the film.
Deepa Mehta conceived the film after making a documentary on women stuck in a abusive relationships in foreign land. The director then incorporated the mythological aspects in the story from Girish Karnad's famous play ‘Nagamandala’.
The 31-year-old actress, who started her career with a brief role opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Mani Ratnam's ‘Dil Se’, says she has never played the typical "Jhataka" heroine in her films.
"I have tried to select different roles even in commercial films. I never came out as the 'Jhataka' heroine.
However, somewhere down the line I did all this also but that's not how I started and that is not what I will be known for," said Zinta.
The actress considers ‘Videsh’ a radical shift in her career graph.
"This is completely radical change. I was tired of being the NRI bubbly girl. It was not exciting enough for me. But films like 'Videsh' excite me as they provide me with new challenges and inspire me to push my limits," she added.