Veteran Bollywood actor Zeenat Aman often shares posts on life lessons as well as anecdotes from her life. In an interview with Shubra Aiyappa’s YouTube channel, the actor talked at length about her acting journey, how she survived in Bollywood and how she was stuck with the ‘sex symbol’ image. (Also read: Zeenat Aman, 74, advocates for live-in relationships: ‘Wouldn’t you rather have 5 joyous years than 15 miserable ones?’)
What Zeenat said
During the interview, when Zeenat was asked about the roles she did, the actor shared, “I always found that there was such disparity between what was projected about me, and the person that I truly was. The sex symbol tag stayed with me for a very long time. When people would meet me, they would realise that I was truly nothing like the characters I portrayed.”
‘Gayegi, nachegi, do dialogue bolegi’
She went on to add, “Nobody was interested in me being cerebral. They were only interested in gayegi, nachegi, do dialogue bolegi, bheegegi, barish mein(singing, dancing, saying two dialogues, getting wet in the rain)… I feel that my contributions were always modest and the additions that people wanted were not so modest. It has happened to me on several films where they wanted more cleavage, more of the back showing, that came from the production.”
Zeenat became a household name during the 1970s and 1980s after bagging the title of Miss Asia Pacific International pageant in 1970. Zeenat has given several hits such as Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Don, Yaadon ki Baraat, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Qurbani, Dostana and Dharam Veer.
Detailing the attention her look in the film Satyam Shivam Sundaram got at the time, Zeenat had earlier written a post on Instagram. It read, “Anyone acquainted with the history of Bollywood will know that there was much controversy and brouhaha about my character Rupa in Satyam Shivam Sundaram. I was always quite amused by the accusations of obscenity as I did not and do not find anything obscene about the human body. I am a director’s actor and these looks were part of my job. Rupa’s sensuality was not the crux of the plot, but a part of it. As it is, the set is not even remotely a sensual space. Every move is choreographed, rehearsed and performed in front of dozens of crew members.”
She will be seen next in Bun Tikki, which also stars Shabana Azmi. It is directed by Faraaz Arif Ansari. Zeenat was last seen in the 2025 series The Royals. Directed by Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana, the show also featured Bhumi Pednekar, Ishaan Khatter, Sakshi Tanwar, Nora Fatehi, Vihaan Samat, Dino Morea and Milind Soman in key roles. Released on Netflix, the series received mixed reviews, with Bhumi facing criticism for her performance. Despite the mixed response, it has been renewed for a second season.