Zeenat Aman was one of the most iconic actresses of her time. She debuted in the entertainment industry with the film, Hare Ram Hare Krishna in 1971. Before that, in 1970, at the age of 19, she became the first Indian to win the Miss Asia Pacific pageant. She has worked in other films like Satyam Shivam Sundaram: Love Sublime, Don, Yaadon Ki Baarat, Laawaris, Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, and Dharam Veer. However, her character 'Rupa' in the film, Satyam Shivam Sundaram catered to huge criticisms at that time. Almost after 44 years, the actress opened up about the same and narrated interesting anecdotes.
Zeenat Aman recently took to her Instagram handle and shared a picture of her with Raj Kapoor. She wrote that as his 100th birthday is nearing, she will share an anecdote on how she convinced Raj Kapoor to cast her as 'Rupa'. Zeenat added that Raj Kapoor narrated the story to her as a project he was interested in making but did not offer her the role. He frequently used to visit the set of Vakil Babu, a film she was then working on.
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As Raj Kapoor was resting after the shoot, Zeenat Aman dressed in ghagra choli, which, in her mind, represented 'Rupa'. She then decked up as the character and went to visit Raj Kapoor. The filmmaker was floored by her efforts and immediately approved of her and offered her the role. A few moments later Raj Kapoor's wife, Krishna, came and gave Zeenat gold guineas as her signing amount. Zeenat Aman further added:
"I later learnt that he was very moved that an actress of my stature would go to such lengths to prove herself. When his laughter died down, Rajji excused himself to make a telephone call. Twenty minutes later, his most gracious wife Krishna ji was at the door with a handful of gold guineas in her purse. Rajji handed these to me with great aplomb as my signing amount… and so it was that I came to be Rupa."
In the same post, Zeenat Aman shared that the gold guineas were very dear to her, and she kept them for decades until recently. A few years back, the guineas were stolen from her house. However, she still cherishes the memories with Raj Kapoor and if given a choice she will choose the memories over the gold. In her words:
"I held onto those guineas for decades until they were stolen from my home a few years ago. Still, given a choice between this memory and that gold, I will always choose the memory."
Despite being the dream of millions of men, Zeenat's love and married life wasn't a bed of roses. For the unversed, she tied the knot for the first time in 1978 with the already-married man, Sanjay Khan. Soon after, Sanjay left her, and their wedding was annulled in 1979. Afterwards, she married Mazhar Khan in 1985 and welcomed two sons, Azaan Khan and Zahaan Khan. However, as many may know, their marriage was full of kicks and slaps from the filmmaker. She had to deal with a lot of emotional and physical turmoil, so much so that once, Mazhar had beaten her so hard that Zeenat's eye was permanently damaged. Thus, in 1988, she decided to part ways with him just before his death.
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