Zeenat Aman
- Actress
- Producer
Zeenat Aman was born to a Hindu mother and a Muslim father Amanullah
who was one of the writers for the classic "Mughal-e-Azam", on November
19th, 1951. Zeenat was an only child and her parents divorced when she
was a little girl. A graduate of Saint Xavier's school in Bombay. Her
father passed away when she was 13. Zeenat won a scholarship to study
in California. Upon her return she started working as reporter and was
introduced to modeling by friends. Her most prominent ad campaign was
the Pond's 7 day to better complexion. Zeenat entered the Miss India
contest and was the third runner up, to go to Miss Asia/Pacific a title
she later won - being the first Indian to ever win that title (the same
title was brought to Indian a second time in 2000 by Diya Mirza).
Zeenat was introduced to the movie screen by O.P. Ralhan in Hulchul
with Kabir Bedi and later repeated by again by Ralhan in a cameo in
Hungama. Both films sunk without trace. Zeenat was the third choice for
the junkie 'Janice/Jasbeel' character in Dev Anand's 'Hare Rama Hare
Krishna',(1971) opposite himself and the then reigning queen Mumtaz.
Upon completion of shooting, Zeenat began packing bags to move to Malta
with her mother and German step father (Mr. Heinz) for his job posting.
When Dev Anand received feedback on rushes for the film, he insisted
that Zeenat and her parents hold off on the move until the film is
released and its fate decided, with reluctance they agreed. The film
was an instant hit and Zeenat walked away with all the accolades
shunning Mumtaz - never before had the Hindi cinema seen a newcomer
overshadow the reigning queen. She won the Filmfare Award as Best
Supporting Actress. For the first time, the Indian audience accepted a
woman who played a 'less than pure' role in a movie.
Zeenat went on to revolutionize the Hindi film actress. She was the
first Indian actress who refused bouffants, cropped a bob at the height
of her career and hardly appeared in saris and bindis and could easily
carry off a bikini dress without looking vulgar. She took on roles of
the modern urban Indian woman, who made no excuses and took no
prisoners. Her characters contemplated abortion to pursue a career
(Ajnabee (1974) or dumping a poor lover to pursue a rich man (Roti
Kapada Aur Makaan (1974), and still manage to win audience's approval.
She pursued Vijay Arora by strumming her guitar singing "Churaliya hai"
in the Nasir Hussain's hit film "Yaadon Ki Barat" (1973), fought
alongside Amitabh Bachchan as a revenge-seeking action heroine in "Don"
(1978). Even though Raj Kapoor's "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" (1977) didn't
do well, Zeenat was able to break barriers by kissing her leading man
on the mouth for the first time on the Indian screen post-Independence
and receiving a Best Actress Filmfare nomination. She received another
Filmfare nomination as Best Actress for the controversial hit film
"Insaaf Ka Tarazu" (1980) where she played a justice-seeking rape
survivor. Dev Anand promoted Zeenat in 70's by signing 7 films with her
of which 4 were blockbusters.Rajesh Khanna-Zeenat Aman were paired
opposite each-other in 4 films in 1974-84 period and 3 were
blockbusters. and Shashi Kapoor-Zeenat gave 7 super-hit films off the
10 they did together. Zeenat began a new trend, helping launch careers
for male actors - something Indian actresses never did. She signed
Insaf Ka Tarazu with then unknown Raj Babbar and Deepak Prashar, signed
films opposite even Mithun, Kanwaljeet Singh (Ashanti) and Tariq Ali
(Hum Kissi se Kum Nahin and Yadon Ki Baarat). She had a tumultuous
first marriage to Sanjay Khan which ended in divorce. Zeenat had a long
string of super successes throughout her career but towards the end of
her career she took on mature roles in Bhavani Junction, Haathon ki
Lakeerain, Bandhan Kacche Dhagon Ka etc. the movies did average
business at the box office as by late 80's cinema shifted its focus to
front bench whistlers. At that time Zeenat settled in matrimony with
fellow actor Mazhar Khan and gave birth to two sons, turning down
multiple film offers. The marriage ended bitterly in divorce, but soon
after Mazhar died, and Zeenat's feelings about him in the press were
much kinder. Zeenat's contribution to the Indian cinema is definitely
recognized though not fully as yet, but in time to come she will
definitely be remembered as the first person to introduce a lot to
India and add several dimensions to Indian women. In summary "She
revolutionized the portrayal of Indian Women" in its cinema.
who was one of the writers for the classic "Mughal-e-Azam", on November
19th, 1951. Zeenat was an only child and her parents divorced when she
was a little girl. A graduate of Saint Xavier's school in Bombay. Her
father passed away when she was 13. Zeenat won a scholarship to study
in California. Upon her return she started working as reporter and was
introduced to modeling by friends. Her most prominent ad campaign was
the Pond's 7 day to better complexion. Zeenat entered the Miss India
contest and was the third runner up, to go to Miss Asia/Pacific a title
she later won - being the first Indian to ever win that title (the same
title was brought to Indian a second time in 2000 by Diya Mirza).
Zeenat was introduced to the movie screen by O.P. Ralhan in Hulchul
with Kabir Bedi and later repeated by again by Ralhan in a cameo in
Hungama. Both films sunk without trace. Zeenat was the third choice for
the junkie 'Janice/Jasbeel' character in Dev Anand's 'Hare Rama Hare
Krishna',(1971) opposite himself and the then reigning queen Mumtaz.
Upon completion of shooting, Zeenat began packing bags to move to Malta
with her mother and German step father (Mr. Heinz) for his job posting.
When Dev Anand received feedback on rushes for the film, he insisted
that Zeenat and her parents hold off on the move until the film is
released and its fate decided, with reluctance they agreed. The film
was an instant hit and Zeenat walked away with all the accolades
shunning Mumtaz - never before had the Hindi cinema seen a newcomer
overshadow the reigning queen. She won the Filmfare Award as Best
Supporting Actress. For the first time, the Indian audience accepted a
woman who played a 'less than pure' role in a movie.
Zeenat went on to revolutionize the Hindi film actress. She was the
first Indian actress who refused bouffants, cropped a bob at the height
of her career and hardly appeared in saris and bindis and could easily
carry off a bikini dress without looking vulgar. She took on roles of
the modern urban Indian woman, who made no excuses and took no
prisoners. Her characters contemplated abortion to pursue a career
(Ajnabee (1974) or dumping a poor lover to pursue a rich man (Roti
Kapada Aur Makaan (1974), and still manage to win audience's approval.
She pursued Vijay Arora by strumming her guitar singing "Churaliya hai"
in the Nasir Hussain's hit film "Yaadon Ki Barat" (1973), fought
alongside Amitabh Bachchan as a revenge-seeking action heroine in "Don"
(1978). Even though Raj Kapoor's "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" (1977) didn't
do well, Zeenat was able to break barriers by kissing her leading man
on the mouth for the first time on the Indian screen post-Independence
and receiving a Best Actress Filmfare nomination. She received another
Filmfare nomination as Best Actress for the controversial hit film
"Insaaf Ka Tarazu" (1980) where she played a justice-seeking rape
survivor. Dev Anand promoted Zeenat in 70's by signing 7 films with her
of which 4 were blockbusters.Rajesh Khanna-Zeenat Aman were paired
opposite each-other in 4 films in 1974-84 period and 3 were
blockbusters. and Shashi Kapoor-Zeenat gave 7 super-hit films off the
10 they did together. Zeenat began a new trend, helping launch careers
for male actors - something Indian actresses never did. She signed
Insaf Ka Tarazu with then unknown Raj Babbar and Deepak Prashar, signed
films opposite even Mithun, Kanwaljeet Singh (Ashanti) and Tariq Ali
(Hum Kissi se Kum Nahin and Yadon Ki Baarat). She had a tumultuous
first marriage to Sanjay Khan which ended in divorce. Zeenat had a long
string of super successes throughout her career but towards the end of
her career she took on mature roles in Bhavani Junction, Haathon ki
Lakeerain, Bandhan Kacche Dhagon Ka etc. the movies did average
business at the box office as by late 80's cinema shifted its focus to
front bench whistlers. At that time Zeenat settled in matrimony with
fellow actor Mazhar Khan and gave birth to two sons, turning down
multiple film offers. The marriage ended bitterly in divorce, but soon
after Mazhar died, and Zeenat's feelings about him in the press were
much kinder. Zeenat's contribution to the Indian cinema is definitely
recognized though not fully as yet, but in time to come she will
definitely be remembered as the first person to introduce a lot to
India and add several dimensions to Indian women. In summary "She
revolutionized the portrayal of Indian Women" in its cinema.