Zeenat Aman often entertains her fans by sharing film anecdotes on Instagram. The actress frequently discusses her co-stars and reminisces about her time on set in the 1970s. On Tuesday, she revealed the story of her casting in the 1978 musical romance Satyam Shivam Sundaram. Zeenat Aman shared that, although Raj Kapoor narrated the film’s story to her, he never approached her for the role of the female lead, Rupa. Taking matters into her own hands, she dressed as Rupa and went to R.K. Studio to meet Raj Kapoor. Upon arrival, she was greeted at the door by John, Raj Kapoor’s right-hand man. Zeenat Aman asked him to inform Raj Kapoor that Rupa had come to meet him.
Continuing the story in a second post on Wednesday, Zeenat Aman wrote, “Ever-reliable John delivered my message, and soon ushered me into Rajji’s view. Oh! How amused was the great director to see me dressed as a maimed village belle! 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.”
The actress revealed that Raj Kapoor “handed gold guineas” to her as her “signing amount” for Satyam Shivam Sundaram. “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,” added Zeenat Aman.
Along with the post, Zeenat Aman attached a monochrome picture of herself with Raj Kapoor and his wife Krishna Kapoor. In the caption, she wrote, “As for this wonderful picture of me with the Kapoors. I can’t for the life of me remember where it was taken! Any film buffs out there who can give me a clue?”
Sharing the context behind the previous post and the picture, Zeenat Aman added, “The image in my previous post depicts Rajji fixing my scars on set. The glue used to give me this appearance played absolute havoc on my skin for weeks!” See it here.
Zeenat Aman made her acting debut with the Indo-Filipino drama The Evil Within in 1970. Her breakthrough role came the following year in Hare Rama Hare Krishna. The actress has been part of several memorable films such as Don, Yaadon Ki Baraat, Dostana and Qurbani. She will next be seen in Faraz Arif Ansari’s Bun Tikki.
