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Zeenat Aman is considered an icon today as she broke some stereotypes and had this glam image in the 70s and 80s. Aman set an example over the years of being this strong woman who didn’t shy away from being herself. But behind all the glam, she faced her share of struggle and in her latest post, she has finally opened up about it. She dropped some stunning pictures looking glam as always and spoke about her ‘terrifying lonely’ phase when work dried up and her body aged, but she was worried about how to get food on her table, being a single mother.
The ‘Qurbaani’ actress wrote, “It would be dishonest of me to project a life of uninterrupted glamour and composure. I know how it looks of course. Here is a woman who reached the pinnacle of stardom in her youth, and is now enjoying a renaissance in her old age. Sure, those much retold, often contorted, episodes of personal tragedy are widely known, but they’re merely footnotes now. Little stories that only serve to accentuate the heights one has achieved. This then is a frank acknowledgment of the difficult phase. Those excruciating weeks that turned to months that turned to years.”
She further added how she had to take up any work which came her way as there weren’t many choices but she had to work to feed her two children as a single mother. “The time when the work dried up, the body aged, and one felt their relevance slip away. At first, there was the sheer relief of anonymity. But then came the fear of how to keep food on the table. With no husband to turn to, no sibling to lean on, and two helpless children to provide for, it was terrifyingly lonely. Those were the years I took pretty much any work that came my way,” she said.
Aman further revealed that she even did some really odd jobs. “I did not have the luxury of discernment or whimsy. It was bone rattling drives to nondescript towns for event appearances, accommodation at no-star hotels with filthy sheets, trite renditions of ‘chura liya’ in smelly halls, poorly drafted scripts that pushed me to the edge of sanity, being jostled like a prop during stifling photo ops… and then there were the other odd jobs. Teaching poise and etiquette, writing agony aunt columns, even narrating audio tapes. This was life as a “has been” and I find no shame in it.”
The ‘Qurbaani’ actress wrote, “It would be dishonest of me to project a life of uninterrupted glamour and composure. I know how it looks of course. Here is a woman who reached the pinnacle of stardom in her youth, and is now enjoying a renaissance in her old age. Sure, those much retold, often contorted, episodes of personal tragedy are widely known, but they’re merely footnotes now. Little stories that only serve to accentuate the heights one has achieved. This then is a frank acknowledgment of the difficult phase. Those excruciating weeks that turned to months that turned to years.”
She further added how she had to take up any work which came her way as there weren’t many choices but she had to work to feed her two children as a single mother. “The time when the work dried up, the body aged, and one felt their relevance slip away. At first, there was the sheer relief of anonymity. But then came the fear of how to keep food on the table. With no husband to turn to, no sibling to lean on, and two helpless children to provide for, it was terrifyingly lonely. Those were the years I took pretty much any work that came my way,” she said.
Aman further revealed that she even did some really odd jobs. “I did not have the luxury of discernment or whimsy. It was bone rattling drives to nondescript towns for event appearances, accommodation at no-star hotels with filthy sheets, trite renditions of ‘chura liya’ in smelly halls, poorly drafted scripts that pushed me to the edge of sanity, being jostled like a prop during stifling photo ops… and then there were the other odd jobs. Teaching poise and etiquette, writing agony aunt columns, even narrating audio tapes. This was life as a “has been” and I find no shame in it.”
However, she is grateful for those who gave her a job. “I am grateful to those organisers who offered me jobs, to those fans that turned up to attend those events, for those laughable paycheques that kept the lights on in my apartment. This caption is my assertion of two matters. That there is dignity in all labour. And that, with some persistence and luck, the tough times can ease.I am wildly picky about work now. The kids reject half a dozen collaborations and requests on my behalf everyday. It is a privilege I enjoy, but do not take for granted🌺,” concluded the actress.
