Zeenat Aman: My grey roles blurred the line between heroine and vamp

Zeenat Aman recently spoke at an event titled ‘Zeenat Aman Rewind To Don’ and recalled how she had put a lot of herself into the role of Roma, and how Dev Anand supported her career. She collaborated with the Film Heritage Foundation for the event, which was attended by hundreds of cinegoers. During an in-conversation session with FHF director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur before the screening, she discussed her journey.

‘I WAS VERY EXCITED FOR DON’
Recalling how she got the role in Don, Zeenat said, “We were shooting for a film called Roti Kapda Makaan. Nariman A Irani was the camera person. Chandra Barot was the chief assistant director. Of course, Amit (Amitabh Bachchan) ji and I were in that. And at some point, I didn’t know what all was happening behind the scenes and what their financial situation was, I was just not aware. They approached me, and they said that they were planning a project called Don and there was a role (for me). I just said, ‘Chandra, I want to do something. I don’t want to be – gaana gaaye, chale gaye.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry. We will involve you in all the action, drama, and everything.’ So I was very excited.”

“The costume and that attitude (in Don) – I discussed it with my director and just wore it. There was a lot of me in that. Roma is a legend... Junglee Billi”

‘PRODUCERS STARTED TO CAST ME IN GREY ROLES’
Shivendra asked, “You had a definite impact on the characterisation of the heroine in Hindi cinema, and you formed a new form of sexual politics. How would you look at that?” Zeenat interrupted and said, “A new form of what?” Shivendra continued, “A new form of feminism, let me put it that way.” Zeenat laughed and said, “See, it was not my intent. It was not my design. In my first film (Hare Rama Hare Krishna), I had been accepted as a bad girl with a heart of gold. She had a reason to be who she was. So producers started casting me in films like that, with a lot of grey shades. The line between heroine and vamp was blurred a little bit, otherwise, it was very clearcut. Either you were good or you were bad.”

‘ON SOCIAL MEDIA, YOU CAN PUT FORTH YOUR REALITY THE WAY IT IS’
“I find that when you have a platform where you can speak your own truth and people can hear your voice directly from you and not from people’s perception of you and your reality, and you can put forth your reality the way it is. I have been overwhelmed with the love that I have received.”

“Dum Maro Dum is a song that has stood the test of time. I recently learned that there was a survey, and Dum Maro Dum is the number one song in the history of Indian cinema. Dev saheb is my mentor. Because of Hare Rama Hare Krishna I became accepted in Hindi cinema. If it were not for Dev saheb, I would never have had a meteoric rise in the cinema business”