Zeenat Aman was born on November 19, 1951, to a Muslim father and a Maharashtrian Hindu mother. She spent nine years in a boarding school in Panchgani. Her parents divorced when she was two years old.
One of 70s Hindi cinema's most iconic actresses Zeenat Aman is known for her beauty and her intelligence since the beginning of her film career. Zeenat Aman is credited as the person who has helped in redefining the role of heroines in Hindi films.
It was during Zeenat Aman's time that heroines were seen changing from ‘miserable’ and ‘bechari’ to women who live on their own terms. This change was not limited to the roles played by actresses. But it was also visible in their look and style. Zeenat Aman gave actresses the courage to show their attractive side boldly and wear any dress of their choice. She broke the concept of ‘traditional is beautiful’.
Zeenat Aman's parents got divorced when she was two years old
Zeenat Aman was born on November 19, 1951, to a Muslim father and a Maharashtrian Hindu mother. She spent nine years in a boarding school in Panchgani. Her parents divorced when she was two years old. Her mother then married a German man. However, Zeenat Aman did not let all this affect her studies. She was the head girl in her school. She got such good marks in ISC that she got a scholarship, which allowed her to go to California for a year of high school.
On returning to India, she did modeling for some time and entered the Miss India contest. She won the title of Miss Asia Pacific and debuted in a small role in OP Ralhan’s film Hulchul (1971). At that time, no one, including Zeenat Aman, thought she would become a sensation and achieve the top position in Hindi cinema.
Zeenat Aman did not know Hindi, wanted to go to the UN and become an interpreter
In an interview, Zeenat Aman said, “I had not even thought that I would become a Hindi film heroine. After studying languages, I wanted to attend the UN and become an interpreter." But, little did she know that a meeting with Dev Anand would change the direction of her career forever.
Dev Anand cast her for Hare Ram Hare Krishna. Zeenat said, “To him (Dev Anand), I seemed different from others. I was a young girl from Southern California, who was preparing pipes for her smoking.”
She also revealed that she was not ready to become an actress. She did not even know Hindi and her screen test for the film in English. But Anand’s cameraman agreed to her request and finally, she got ‘Dum Maaro Dum’.
When Zeenat Aman refused to wear a Salwar Kameez
Later, with her films, Zeenat Aman changed the way heroines were portrayed in Hindi films for decades. She inspired popular filmmaker Nasir Hussain to change his approach toward his heroines in the film ‘Yaadon Ki Baaraat’.
During the shooting of her superhit song ‘Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko’ in the film, she refused to wear a pink salwar-kameez.
Zeenat Aman had told Shoma Choudhary at an event, “Nasir Hussain’s inspiration was Asha Parekh and he was used to dressing his heroines in the same way. So he also dressed me like Asha Parekh. When I saw it, I said, ‘Sir, no. This is just not working. I chose the outfit that I am wearing in the song'."
The social drama ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ released in 1977 played an important role in Zeenat Aman’s film career. This film was also a means to silence Zeenat’s critics who called her only a ‘sex symbol’ and ‘glamour girl’. She proved her brilliant acting skills in Satyam Shivam Sundaram.
Zeenat Aman had adopted a unique method to convince Raj Kapoor that no one could play the character of Rupa better than her. This is about those days when Zeenat and Raj Kapoor were shooting the film Vakil Babu.
Satyam Shivam Sundaram director Raj Kapoor often talked about films with Zeenat. While speaking on the Zee Classic show ‘My Life My Story’, Zeenat Aman said, “Raj ji used to talk very passionately and deeply about Rupa's character. He would often tell me how Rupa would do certain things. Our conversation made me extremely curious. Gradually I started feeling that I wanted to be Rupa."
One day after finishing her shooting, Zeenat decided to step into the role of Rupa. She wore a ‘ghagra-choli’ and applied a tissue to show her burnt face. She went straight to meet Raj Kapoor in this outfit. But she was stopped at the door and was asked who she was.
Zeenat replied, “Rupa has come to meet Raj ji.” Raj Kapoor was stunned to see Zeenat Aman in this form. He immediately called his wife Krishna Kapoor, who brought some gold coins for Zeenat as the signing amount.
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 "This actress wanted to work in UN, took up acting after director gave her gold coins as signing amount, who is she?")
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