She talks non-stop while she eats her lunch. Salman Khan and Atul Agnihotri listen indulgently. We are on the sets of Agnihotri's directorial debut, Dilne Jise Apna Kaha. The lady in question is Preity Zinta. Dressed in a embroidered green chiffon churidar-kurta, Preity looks lovely. She finally chooses her van for to settle down in, but not before she demands an ice cream...

I tell her she has lost weight and she grins. "I've been working out," she explains. No diet? "I eat healthy, but see! I am having an ice cream so my diet is broken. I cannot starve myself. I'm a foodie!"

She adds she loves to cook as well. "I make fabulous pastas, Indian food, parathas and club sandwiches!"

Preity claims the film that has touched her heart the most is Kal Ho Naa Ho. "When I heard the script, I almost fell off the chair! It was very close to my life.

"Working with Jaya Bachchan was super. She is elegant and has a great sense of humour," says Preity. Bachchan plays her mother Jenny in Kal Ho Naa Ho. As for her own role, Preity refuses to divulge any details except that she plays Naina Catherine Kapur.

Shah Rukh Khan, according to Preity, is a 'one-take' actor. "He's brilliant and a powerhouse of energy. Even though he hurt his back, his energy levels never dipped. He's always hyper and he wants you to do the shot fast. He's excellent with improvising. He's very unselfish and will never try to take your place. He keeps you on your toes. His timing is great and if you are not alert, you drop the scene from your side."

Preity loves [producer] Karan Johar too. She adds, "He is so multi-faceted. He has a great sense of clothes and embroidery. He has written the story and screenplay. He's a director, producer and choreographer. He can act better than half the actors I know. He's witty, humorous and caring. I discovered him during this film. He's also the clumsiest guy in the world. He would slip and fall over everything!"

She continues on with pinpointing traits of all her co-stars.

"Salman [Khan] is very cute -- at least in the shots we have done together. Thanks to his spontaneity and cuteness, he can make the silliest thing look normal and believable. If he looks at you, he looks like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. But he has this naughtiness and that's what lights up his face.

Saif's [Ali Khan] humour and comic timing is to die for. Hrithik's intensity and dedication is amazing. I love Aamir's [Khan] eye for detail. And I adore Bobby [Deol], his happy-go-lucky casualness. He is one of the nicest guys in the industry.

"Then, Akshay's [Kumar] fitness and strength, Ajay's [Devgan] intensity, his voice and eyes. I try to imitate his walk when I work with him. I love Amitabh Bachchan's presence. He towers over everyone. He's a legend. I like Anil Kapoor's dedication. He gets very involved into what he's doing.

"Where heroines are concerned, I worked with Manisha Koirala in my first film, Dil Se. She taught me to be nice to newcomers. It mattered so much to me then. I did that with Priyanka Chopra [The Hero: Story Of A Spy] and Bhumika Chawla [Dilne Jise Apna Kaha].

"I adore Mahima Chaudhary. She's like my older sister, Nimmi, very cool and cultured. I have done two films with Rani Mukerji and we share great chemistry. I was in awe of Madhuri Dixit when we did Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke. I used to just look at her and go, 'Wow! I'm standing next to Madhuri Dixit!'"

Preity admits that if she ever had a fight with her co-stars, she would not be able to do a 'cute' scene with them. "He has to apologise and we have to sort it out. Otherwise, you will see it on my face. I can act in front of thousands of people, can cry at the drop of a hat but I cannot forget a fight. I have to be very comfortable when I am working. No pressure from any side."

But fights are not common for this friendly actress. "Over-familiarity breeds contempt. I don't reach that stage. Hrithik and I are good friends. His wife Suzanne and I have known each other for nine years. I always looked at him as her boyfriend and now husband. Now, I'm getting to know him better. We've never had a fight though we have known each other for so long.

"Bobby and me have known each other for ages. I've never fought with any of my co-stars."

One of the reasons why Preity prefers not to fight is because relationships means 'positivity'. "It could be friendship, love, a mother-daughter relationship or a professional one. But it must be positive. I stay away from negative relationships. They are energy-sapping vampires. I can't handle them," she says.

A pretty face is important to this actress. More important is honesty. "If there is honesty in your face, the battle is won. It doesn't have to be the most beautiful face in the world. The audience can relate to you then. They feel love, not lust, for you."

The people closest to her are her mother and childhood friend Shagun, who lives in Delhi.

Preity admits she guards her free time. "I don't have a family to support. I only have myself. I make enough and save sensibly. I need to pamper myself. When I stand on top of a mountain, freezing at four in the morning, I tell myself that on my next holiday, I must get myself a limousine. Then I do the scene.

"You are constantly stressed with dialogues and your performance mentally, but it's tough physically too.

"Your mouth is freezing and you cannot talk. It takes a huge amount of will power and determination. In Koi... Mil Gaya, there was this shot where Hrithik tells me you don't like me. I tell him I need a guy who is strong and he grabs me. I was wearing a chiffon dress. We shot near a glacier at zero degree Celsius. It was so cold, I thought I was going to die! I was in such a bad mood that I wanted to throw myself over a cliff. It took all of me and more to do that scene," Preity reveals.

Preity then declares she is 'dying to have kids': "Marriage will be the third phase of my life, after my growing and acting years. I love kids! I don't see myself working after marriage.

"When I have kids, I will do nothing till my child is six. Those are the formative years. I will spend them with my kids because I want secure, healthy children. After that, I see myself doing something. Not acting. Maybe business."

For now, Preity will be seen in Farhan Akhtar's Lakshya (Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan), Yash Chopra's next starring Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji and Atul Agnihotri's Dilne Jise Apna Kaha, starring Salman Khan and Bhumika Chawla