Before becoming one of Hindi cinema’s most celebrated stars and a style icon of the 1970s, Zeenat Aman had imagined a very different future for herself. Despite being the daughter of celebrated screenwriter Amanullah Khan, best known for writing Mughal-e-Azam, Zeenat says she neither grew up around Hindi films nor aspired to become an actor. Instead, she hoped to continue her education and pursue an academic career, possibly abroad. However, a successful stint in modelling and beauty pageants unexpectedly paved the way to films, altering the course of her life before she could complete her graduation.Zeenat reflected on her upbringing and explained that her father’s cinematic legacy had little impact on her early years because she was raised by her mother after her parents separated.“It is true that my father was a prolific writer and exceptional in the work that he did in films. However, I didn’t live with my father. My parents separated when I was two, and I was brought up by my mother. Of course, I love him and miss him, but there was no great cinematic influence. It was only much later, as an adult, that I realised the quality of his work,” she said in a conversation with Shubra Aiyappa.The veteran actor admitted that joining the film industry was never part of her original plan and that she had always seen herself pursuing higher studies. “I wasn’t looking forward to cinema. I wasn’t even sure if I would be living in India or joining films. It was just luck. It was just a step away from the modelling world, and I really believed that I had a future in academia. I was looking forward to pursuing further studies. It was a very momentary thing.”She also revealed how disconnected she was from Hindi cinema despite her family background. “I wasn’t exposed to Hindi cinema. I knew nothing about Hindi cinema despite my father being a writer. It was a new world.”Zeenat was only 20 when she returned to India from California. Soon after, Dev Anand recognised her potential and offered her a breakthrough that launched her acting career. She went on to redefine the image of the Hindi film heroine, becoming one of the industry’s most glamorous stars, a fashion trendsetter and one of the highest-paid actresses of her generation. Her filmography includes acclaimed titles such as Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, Dharam Veer, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Don and Qurbani.Earlier, Zeenat had also acknowledged the pivotal role her mother played in shaping her career, revealing that she stepped away from her own profession to support her daughter’s journey in films. She said, “When I made up my mind to pursue a career in acting, she gave up her own work to be my manager. She negotiated my contracts, invested my earnings, packed my tiffins, ran my lines, inspired my style, and bolstered my confidence to the nth degree.”
