Zeenat Aman ,one of those Hindi Film actresses who westernised the role of the bahu. Like Parveen Babi she was able to grab attention with her modern clothes & an accent unknown till then.
She became known with her ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ in 1971. She had a brief stint as a journalist in Femina. With modelling & her pageants like Miss India & Miss Asia Pacific, she adorned many covers of magazines throughout her career.
She worked with Rk Films for “Satyam Shivam Sundaram”. Earlier she had been the lucky muse for Dev Anand in his ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’. She looked stunning in her ‘Yaadon Ki baraat’ it had a galaxy of stars & yet she is remembered for her role.
In ‘Hum Kisise Kum Nahin’ the entire screen time is devoted to the lead pair, Tariq Shah & Kajal Kiran. The songs have Rishi Kapoor at his best. He also plays the third wheel to the lead pair. But his romantic interest is Zeenat who has a tiny role with the title song, ‘Hum kisise Kum nahi.. Hai agar dushman..’ She also acknowledges her love in front of her father. Giving Rishi the chain as if it was the most natural thing to do in front of the audience.
Born Zeenat Khan she took up Aman as her screen name. She was the most sought after actress then getting work in most of the highest grossers. She worked with Sanjeev Kumar in ‘Manoranjan’ & ‘Paapi’. In ‘Dharam Veer’ she was cast opposite Dharmendra. She was in a couple of films with Rajesh Khanna like ‘Ajnabi’ which became hits.
She attempted to enter Hollywood with ‘Shalimar’ with Dharmendra, Rex Harrison & others. But it was a major flop. Then came her ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ & ‘Don’. The controversial role in the former got her the best actress award & the later another super hit set in motion the reboot series & Don franchise.
She later concentrated on bringing up her two sons & retired from films. Today very rarely we find her in a cameo or a small appearance.
Asian Entertainment 