Zeenat Aman recalls being accused of ‘obscenity’ for her role in Satyam Shivam Sundaram

Zeenat Aman is indeed one of the most beautiful actresses to have come out of the Hindi film industry. The veteran actress is literally a timeless beauty as she looks as charming as ever even today. Just a few days into her Instagram debut, Zeenat ji shared a beautiful throwback picture on her account. She accompanied that with an interesting story.

Zeenat Aman shares throwback pic of look test for Satyam Shivam Sundaram

On Thursday, Zeenat Aman took to her Instagram account to share a throwback pic of her look test for Satyam Shivam Sundaram. The actress looks ethereal in the picture, exuding her signature charm. She informed, “This picture was taken by photographer J P Singhal during a look test for Satyam Shivam Sundaram around 1977. We shot the series at R K Studios, and my costumes were designed by Oscar winner Bhanu Athaiya.”

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A post shared by Zeenat Aman (@thezeenataman)

Zeenat Aman on controversy around her role

The actress also opened up about the controversy that happened during the film’s release. Zeenat ji’s role in the film was termed ‘obscene’ and ‘vulgar’ by many at the time. Addressing that, she 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.”

She added, “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 informed that even director Raj Kapoor was a bit doubtful because of her image. She shared, “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.“

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A post shared by Zeenat Aman (@thezeenataman)

However, even after all the controversy, the film emerged a success. And as Zeenat ji shared, the first sign of it came at the first screening only. She wrote, “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.“

Zeenat ji is not just a beautiful actress but an amazing soul too. She took this risky step in 1978, when it was either unheard of or very rare. Even today, she personifies a strong independent woman. With such an interesting story this time, can’t wait to see more gems through Zeenat ji’s Instagram account in future.

Also Read: Veteran actress Zeenat Aman makes Instagram debut with beautiful pics, Fans shower love on the ‘legend’