Zeenat Aman and Rajesh Khanna in a still from the film Ajanabee.
It is wild to even think that the ever-gorgeous and confident Zeenat Aman could be intimidated by anybody. But, in a recent interview, the veteran actor admitted that she was intimidated by late actor Rajesh Khanna early on in her career. To prevent losing face in front of the superstar, Zeenat recalled that she would mug up all her lines.
Talking to Film Companion, she said, “I remember when I had just started in the film industry and Rajesh Khanna was the phenomenon. Oh my god, I mugged up all my lines so that I wouldn’t flub a single thing. I was totally intimidated by him but did I show him? Not at all. I went to him and I performed. So when I went back to my makeup room, I was like, ‘Wow. I just gave a shot with a superstar.’ I think that’s the right attitude to have.” During the conversation, Zeenat emphasized the importance of not getting intimidated by superstars while working with them and only focusing on the performance aspect of things.
Zeenat Aman and Rajesh Khanna starred in many iconic films of the 70s, including Ajanabee, Chhailla Babu, Jaanwar, and Aashiq Hoon Baharon Ka.
In an earlier interview, another veteran actor Farida Jalal recalled working with Rajesh Khanna in the film Aradhana. The film was led by Rajesh and Sharmila Tagore, but Farida had a substantial part in it. Farida said that even before the film became a hit, Rajesh behaved arrogantly on set, which led to a few spats between the two.
“He became ‘The Rajesh Khanna’ after Aradhana. But on the set, he was already quite arrogant,” she shared with Bollywood Bubble. Farida said that she didn’t give him the star treatment on the set, which perhaps offended him a little bit. “I didn’t give him as much attention, so he got annoyed with me. I was in my own world. He was a little annoyed with that,” she said, while adding that he was actually quite impressive in the film.
On the professional front, Zeenat Aman will be seen next in Bun Tikki, along with Shabana Azmi and Abhay Deol. The movie is produced by Manish Malhotra.
