TO MARK HER MILESTONE BIRTHDAY, AN ALPHABETICAL GUIDE TO ACTRESS ZEENAT AMAN
LEGENDARY leading lady Zeenat Aman is turning 70 on Friday (19).
Born in 1951, the Bollywood bombshell exploded onto the big screen in the early 1970s after winning a beauty pageant, and helped break the shackles of what a Hindi cinema heroine should be like. To celebrate the iconic star’s milestone birthday, Eastern Eye put together an all-you-need-to-know, A-to-Z guide about her amazing life and career.
A is for Aman: Zeenat is the daughter of noted scriptwriter Amanullah Khan, who worked on major movies including all-time classics Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and Pakeezah (1972). Her father wrote under the pen name Aman, which she adopted as her surname on screen.
B is for Bombay: The daughter of a Muslim father and Maharashtrian Hindu mother, the actress was born in Bombay (now Mumbai) on November 19, 1951, but her parents divorced when she was very young. She spent much of her childhood in boarding school in Panchgani (a hill station in the same western Indian state of Maharashtra of which Mumbai is the capital), and then won a scholarship to study in the US.
C is for Cover girl: During her days as a model and actress, Zeenat graced the cover of all the major Indian film publications, which included the first issue of popular movie magazine Cineblitz in 1974.
The Evil Within
D is for Debut: Zeenat made her movie debut in English-language thriller The Evil Within (1970) opposite Dev Anand, which was a major box-office flop. After following that up with unsuccessful 1971 films Hulchul and Hungama, she was ready to quit films, but things turned around with her fourth release Hare Rama Hare Krishna (see H).
E is for Emotional: The actress gave a deeply emotional interview in a now famous Rendezvous With Simi Garewal chat show episode, where she detailed the harrowing aspects of her life, including an abusive marriage. That tearful conversation has been viewed more than a million times on YouTube.
F is for Femina Miss India: Before making her film debut, Zeenat finished second in the Femina Miss India beauty pageant. This led to her competing in the Miss Asia Pacific International contest in 1970, and becoming the first Indian to win it.
G is for Gawaahi: Zeenat took a decade-long break from acting after appearing in 1989 courtroom drama Gawaahi. Interestingly, the film’s lead cast included Ashutosh Gowariker and Shekhar Kapur, who would later find fame as internationally renowned film directors.
H is for Hare Rama Hare Krishna: The actress was brought in as a last-minute replacement to play what would be an award-winning role of Janice in Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971). The film became a major success and turned Zeenat into a star.
I is for Icon: The Indian film icon is largely responsible for making the Bollywood heroine more westernised with her style and the feisty characters she played. This would greatly empower generations of leading ladies who followed in her footsteps.
J is for Journalist: The first paying job Zeenat had was as a journalist, before moving onto a successful modelling career.
K is for Kids: The actress has two children and they have always been her priority. She said: “When you become a parent, you stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about your children.”
L is for Life story: The legendary actress has been seriously considering writing a tell-all autobiography about her extraordinary journey, and hasn’t ruled out a biopic being made about her life.
Dharam Veer
M is for Money: From 1976-1980, Zeenat Aman was the joint highest-paid leading lady in Bollywood, along with Hema Malini, and appeared in many blockbusters during this time like Dharam Veer (1977).
N is for No: At the height of her fame in the 1970s, the actress had to refuse several high-profile films because she was so much in demand. This included turning down big offers from Hollywood and the role ultimately played by Parveen Babi in Amar Akbar Anthony (1977).
O is for Outfits: Apart from being a huge movie star, Zeenat was also a major fashion icon (right) during the 1970s. What made this remarkable was that she did not have a styling team, unlike the stars today. Reflecting on those early days, she said: “You did your own styling, walk and conversations. It was all home-grown and there was no big entourage advising you.”
P is Perfume: In 1989, the fragrance Zeenat by Zeenat Aman was released and proved to be popular.
Q is for Qurbani: Zeenat starred in four of the six highest-grossing Bollywood films of 1980, including the year’s biggest hit Qurbani. The action movie featured the song Aap Jaisa Koi, picturised on her, which was such a huge success that it helped ignite the pop scene in India and turn the song’s young singer, Nazia Hassan, into a global star.
R is for Redefining Beauty: In March 2016, there was an exhibition in Dubai titled Redefining Beauty, which featured various artworks dedicated to Zeenat. Speaking of beauty, the actress was once named as the sexiest Bollywood star of all time in a one-of-a-kind list published by Eastern Eye, which received global media coverage.
S is for Songs: The actress has performed some of the most memorable movie songs in history, including Dum Maro Dum from Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971), Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko from Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973), the Satyam Shivam Sundaram title track (1978), Do Lafzon Ki Hai Dil Ki Kahani from The Great Gambler (1979) and Aap Jaisa Koi from Qurbani 1980.
T is for Theatre: The actress formed a connection with theatre and played Mrs Robinson in a Mumbai production of The Graduate in 2004. In early 2020, she appeared in the play Dearest Bapu, Love Kasturba.
U is for Unlucky: The unlucky-in-love star has had a string of failed relationships throughout her life, which included an abusive marriage to Mazher Khan. She once said: “Mazhar never wanted me to grow as an individual or as an artist. During the very first year of marriage, I realised I had made a huge mistake, but decided to live by it and make it work. I tried to make it work for another 12 years. There was no light at the end of the tunnel for me. There was not a single moment of happiness or joy during those 12 years.”
V is for Violence: Zeenat was also in a relationship with actor Sanjay Khan, which ended when he beat her in public and permanently damaged her eye. The incident has been much written about, but the actress chooses not to speak of it.
W is Work: The actress has an impressive body of work to her name. Some of her biggest successes include Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971), Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974), Dharam Veer (1977), Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978), Don (1978), The Great Gambler (1979), Ram Balram (1980), Qurbani (1980), Dostana (1980) and Laawaris (1981). She wants to continue working and told Eastern Eye: “There are no great age-appropriate roles for ladies my age. They are very few and far between in Hindi cinema, but I wouldn’t say no if a really great role came along.”
X is for X-Rated: Whether it was the tiny swimsuits, the barely-there costumes such as in Satyam Shivam Sundaram or her sensual scenes, her performances were often called nearly X-rated in the conservative Hindi film industry. However, Zeenat was, in fact, breaking the shackles for Bollywood’s leading ladies.
Y is for Yaadon Ki Baaraat: Another landmark in her career was the hugely influential 1973 film, which popularised the masala entertainer in Bollywood. It also has a legendary soundtrack, which included her stunning performance of the song Chura Liya Hai. The film was later remade in Tamil as Naalai Namadhe (1975), in Telugu as Annadammula Anubandham (1975) and in Malayalam as Himam (1983).
Z is for Zee Cine Awards: Zeenat received a well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award at the Zee Cine Awards in 2008 in a recognition of her immense contribution to Hindi cinema. She was also hounured with an Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema gong at the 2010 IIFA awards.
The actor’s evolving style from youth to maturity getty images
Aamir Khan embracing vintage looks with classic charmgetty images
Bold and dramatic changes defining Aamir Khan’s careergetty images
From rugged to refined Aamir Khan’s versatile appearancesgetty images
Memorable film moments showcasing Aamir Khan’s unique stylegetty images
Aamir Khan’s blend of classic and contemporary fashiongetty images
Aamir Khan’s dedication to authentic character portrayals getty images
Cinematic milestones reflected in Aamir Khan’s on-screen imagegetty images
A seated Jain enlightened teacherAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Ganesha from JavaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Chinese silk painting depicting the BuddhaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
ArdhanarishvaraAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Head of a grimacing yakshaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
NagaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Bimaran casketAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hunia Chawla
A still from rehearsal
Them performing liveNajmuddin Saifuddin Qawwal Group
The cast of Marriage Material in key moments from the play, including Avita Jay, Kiran Landa, Omar Malik, Irfan Shamji and Anoushka Deshmukh
Sathnam Sanghera’s 'Marriage Material' adapted into bold new play on conformity
The play Marriage Material at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s adaptation of Sathnam Sanghera’s novel of the same name, which first came out in 2013.
She is lucky to have Iqbal Khan direct Marriage Material. The play, a co-production with the Birmingham Rep, is set in the late 1960s. Mr and Mrs Bains (played by Jaz Singh Deol and Avita Jay) run a corner shop in Wolverhampton. Their younger daughter, Surinder (Anoushka Deshmukh), is 16, her sister Kamaljit (Kiran Landa) is just a bit older.
They have a neighbour, Patwant Dhanda (Irfan Shamji), who, as we shall soon see, is not a very pleasant man. In fact, he comes across just as racist as Enoch Powell, who represented Wolverhampton South West for the Tories from 1950 to 1974.
It will be recalled this was a time when Sikhs working on the buses were told they couldn’t wear a turban. That was a hard-fought battle that had to be won.
The Bains, meanwhile, simply want to get their girls married off.
Nothing new here, I thought.
What makes the tale different is that the plot twists and turns down the generations. Mr Dhanda, who has the makings of a paedophile, makes a pitch for one of the girls when Mr Bains dies early in the play. “A life with no man in the house is no life,” he informs the newly widowed Mrs Bains.
Mr Dhanda has a wife but she has returned to India so he considers himself to be a free man.
Surinder’s English teacher from school, Miss Flanagan (Celeste Dodwell), who is also head of the fifth form, tells Mrs Bains about her daughter: “I don’t want to embarrass you, but she is bright. Ridiculously bright.”
She adds: “Mrs Bains, I think it would be a pity if Surinder didn’t stay on at school.” The initial response from Mrs Bains is not encouraging: “Too much education makes people’s brains get mixed up, they don’t sleep at night…”
But she is finally persuaded that Surinder should be allowed to stay on for a while longer before being married off.
Mr Bains was very old school. When Surinder confides she would one day like to be “a somebody”, he is amused that “my daughter wants to be a somebody”.
“Like you,” she tells her father.
Mr Bains consoles his daughter: “We will find a somebody for you to marry.”
At the point of a possible marriage, however, Surinder is sweet-talked by chocolate salesman Jim Wilson (Tommy Belshaw) into running away with him. They share a love of literature, and he calls her “Sue Bains”. But the relationship does not end well.
Once she has left, Surinder is written off as “dead” by her family. The story that is circulated is that she was only 16 when she was killed in a car crash. That’s better than to let on that she ran off with a white man.
By the time she is reconciled with her sister towards the end of the play, a great deal has changed. Kamaljit married Tanvir Banga (Omar Malik), a young man who helped out in the Bains’ corner shop. When the two sisters meet again, Tanvir has also died. But he and Kamaljit had a son, Arjan Banga (Jaz Singh Deol doubles up for this role after the death of Mr Bains). He has come home after his father’s death to help his mother who is still running the family corner shop.
Meanwhile, Mr Dhanda’s business has prospered. He now has a son, Ranjit Dhanda (the role is taken by Omar Malik after Tanvir’s death), and he is nearly as unpleasant as his father.
Arjan has an English fiancée, Claire (Celeste Dodwell). In London, Arjan worked as a creative director. But after deciding to stay in Wolverhampton to help his mother, he decides he cannot marry Claire because she is white. In other words, Asians are not free of racism, either. Happily, at the end, the couple are reconciled.
As for Surinder, she parted company with Jim Wilson after realising he was all talk, depended on her for money and had failed to earn a penny from his literary pretensions. She had prospered, though, as a hotel owner and had been transformed in time into a well-groomed businesswoman. After being tracked down by Arjan, she decides to return to her roots in Wolverhampton and help Kamaljit run the family corner shop. Perhaps 50 years had passed during the passage of the play.
Being subjected to racism turned some Asians into racists themselves. The word goreh (white person) is repeatedly spat out with venom. Maybe it is worth remembering the play’s audience isn’t exclusively Asian – white folk are watching as well. And maybe some of the toilet humour ridiculing white people, which always makes me cringe, could be cut out.
In Sanghera’s novel, there is a quote from Enoch Powell’s speech in November 1968: “The West Indian or Asian does not, by being born in England, become an Englishman. In law he becomes a United Kingdom citizen by birth; in fact, he is a west Indian or an Asian still... he will by the very nature of things have lost one country without gaining another, lost one nationality without acquiring a new one. Time is running out against us and them. With the lapse of a generation or so we shall at last have succeeded – to the benefit of nobody – in reproducing ‘in England’s green and pleasant land’ the haunting tragedy of the US.”
In Marriage Material, where the acting is marvellous (apart from Mr Dhanda’s Indian mannerisms and accent being overdone) we do travel across a couple of generations.
There is a scene when Tanvir rejects Mr Dhanda’s vision of creating a little Punjab in Wolverhampton.
Mr Dhanda wants to take over the Bains’ corner shop and is putting pressure on Tanvir to sign the papers. He says: “In this country, money is the path to freedom.”
“Sign, please,” he instructs Tanvir. “We must make sure our children learn to behave nicely, according to our rules.”
He insists: “We maintain our identity so we can be ourselves.”
Tanvir disagrees: “We can be us here. With the goreh.”
Dhanda warns him: “Then we will be inviting chaos.”
Tanvir’s comment is telling: “You sound like Enoch.”
Kamaljit, who is expecting a baby with her husband Tanvir, says: “I would like my child to grow up knowing the history of the Gurus and to read the Granth Sahib. And to love their culture.”
Tanvir tells his wife: “I would like my child to go to the finest schools, to cheer for England in the World Cup and eat Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday.”
Kamaljit sets out a dream that has perhaps come to pass with many third and fourth generation British Asians: “Maybe our child can do both.” Much, much later, in a throwback to the past, we learn of Surinder’s O-level results: “Biology A, Chemistry A, English Language A, English Literature A, French A, History B, Latin A, Mathematics A, Physics A…”
Kamaljit tells her younger sister: “Never mind about the B.”
And that is quintessentially Asian. Their acting is outstanding.
Marriage Material is at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until June 21, and at the Birmingham Rep from June 25-July 5