Veteran actor Zeenat Aman, who recently made her debut on Instagram, posted a black and white photo of the actress from a look test for the 1978 film Satyam Shivam Sundaram. She wrote at length about the controversy surrounding her look in the film and talked about ‘accusations of obscenity.’
In the picture, she is seen wearing a blouse, and sitting down with a smiling face. She wrote in the caption, “This picture was taken by photographer J P Singhal during a look test for Satyam Shivam Sundaram around 1977. We shot the series at RK Studios, and my costumes were designed by Oscar-winner Bhanu Athaiya.”
Zeenat further wrote, “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.”
The actor also shared that the director Raj Kapoor was at first unsure about her for the role as she had ‘western’ image. Director Raj Kapoor (Rajji) had brought me on board the film, but was concerned about my “western” image. He was unsure whether the audience would accept me in this avatar, and so conducted this look test. Later, on the basis of this test, we shot a small reel picturised on Lata ji’s famous song ‘Jaago Mohan Pyare’ from the 1956 film Jagte Raho.”
“Rajji held a screening of the reel at R K Studios to gauge the response of his distributors to me in this role. After that first screening, the rights for all territories were immediately sold,” she concluded.
Zeenat started her career with modelling and entered the Femina Miss India pageant in 1970 and came second. She then competed – and won – in the Miss Asia Pacific International pageant, becoming the first Femina Miss India titleholder to win the pageant.
Her role in ‘Hare Ram, Hare Krishna’ brought her into the limelight, while ‘Yaadon Ki Baraat’ (1973) further cemented her position. She continued to rule through the 1970s and 1980s, often paired with reigning stars like Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabha Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor. In the latter part of 1970s, she was also the highest or second-highest paid Bollywood actress, along with Hema Malini.