Preity saved by a snake in a film

In the Deepa Mehta’a film “Heaven On Earth”, the harassed daughter-in –law of a Punjabi family living in Canada is saved by a king cobra from her in-laws. The character of the daughter –in-law is played by Preity Zinta who stayed calm on the sets even though it was a difficult role to portray. Deepa must be trying to say that cobra is less poisonous then such in-laws.