Yesteryear star Zeenat Aman, who rocked the screen with glamorous roles, has learnt from her past and moved on. She is now set for a digital debut

Neha Saini

Call her the original diva of the Hindi film industry or a glam queen, who at 70 is still a picture of elegance and style, Zeenat Aman has always stood out from the filmy crowd for her unconventionality. On screen or off it, her way of doing things were always bold, often breaking the mould, whether it was playing a ganja-smoking hippie in Hare Rama Hare Krishna or being in a relationship with married Sanjay Khan. But she has no regrets. “I look at my life through a perspective where I have learnt from my past and grown. I feel blessed for the kind of work I did and the characters I played on screen. No regrets whatsoever,” says Zeenat, who was in Amritsar to attend an event by FICCIO FLO chapter to honour women achievers.

I love how we have multiple platforms of entertainment now. I have two web series coming up, one murder mystery and another one titled Showstopper.

Zeenat called her trip to Amritsar exceptional and overwhelming. ‘’It’s so heart-warming to see women from small cities like Amritsar contribute towards building a progressive society. Be an entrepreneur or a homemaker, they are so good at what they do. I feel that a woman can make all the difference,” she adds. Sharing her own journey with the women of Amritsar, Zeenat says when she had decided to enter the glamour industry as a young model, she had no idea about it. “I had just returned after completing my studies in USA and was told that there was so much glamour as well as fame in the film business. But no one tells you about the hard work. As a fresh actor, model, I used to ask people I worked with, “Where’s the glamour?’ They used to tell me, honey, you are the glamour.”

She feels the industry has changed for better now and there is dialogue about several issues, regarding mental health, work exploitation and pay parity. “Now, there are so many platforms to address these issues. But during my time, no one talked openly about what goes behind the camera.”

Acting is a craft

She recalls how she bagged the award-winning role of Janice in Hare Rama Hare Krishna. “Of course, Dev Anand was the one who discovered the actor in me. He was the one who offered me the role in Hare Rama Hare Krishna when several actors had refused to do it. I believe that acting is a craft and the more you do it, the more skilled you become. That’s what I learnt from my experience working with so many talented actors and directors of our industry.”

The heartthrob of 70s and 80s, who gave us iconic characters in Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Don and Qurbani is now back in her groove with some new projects. “I love how we have multiple platforms of entertainment now. I have two web series coming up, one murder mystery and another one titled Showstopper.”

She is glad that with so many positive changes in the film industry, women centric films are being made and are doing well. “Pay parity between women and men in the industry needs to be addressed,” she signs off.