New Delhi: With her performing prowess, actress Deepika Padukone has discovered a house within the hearts of moviegoers. Even veteran actress Zeenat Aman is an admirer of her work.
In the most recent episode of Disney+Hotstar’s ‘Koffee with Karan 8’, Zeenat Aman marked her gracious presence with Neetu Kapoor. The two went down reminiscence lane as they mentioned their busy work life, co-stars, marriage, motherhood, and even grandmotherhood with host Karan Johar.
Interestingly, throughout the rapid-fire phase, Karan went on to ask Zeenat about her alternative of actress who could be applicable to play the position of Rupa within the sequel to Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978). Without any second thought, she took the title of Deepika Padukone.
‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ is a 1978 romantic drama movie produced and directed by Raj Kapoor and written by Jainendra Jain. It starred Shashi Kapoor and Zeenat Aman within the lead roles. In the movie, she performed the position of Rupa with a disfigured face.
During the episode, Zeenat recalled how she acquired the position within the iconic, albeit controversial movie, directed by Raj Kapoor.
Zeenat Aman recalled, “I didn’t think that he would even think of casting me in this kind (Rupa) of role. Because she is the daughter of a priest. One day we were shooting at Esel Studios, which is on the road to RK (RK Studios). After packing up, I just dressed myself up in my version of what I thought he (Raj Kapoor) would think of Rupa.”
On how she ready for the position, she added, “With tissue paper stuck on my face. And make-up, and choti (braid), and ghagra-choli. Then I went to RK Studios. He had this man on Friday, John, and then I said, John, please tell sir that Rupa has come. So he said, Rupa? Who is Rupa? Then he (Raj Kapoor) called me inside his cottage, and I went. Then he was gobsmacked,” Zeenat Aman recalled.
Zeenat Aman shared what Raj Kapoor mentioned later to his spouse, Krishna Raj Kapoor.
“He said that this girl is a huge star. She doesn’t need to do this. It’s her passion for this that makes me want to give her the part. You know what he did: on an old song of Nargis ji, Jago Mohan Pyaare, he shot a whole reel with his vision of Rupa. It was so exquisite what he shot. Better than the entire film.”
She added that he confirmed the clip to movie distributors. “He wanted to show them, yes, Zeenat Aman can be Rupa. All territories were interested,” she added.
Zeenat Aman is now all set to make a comeback to the silver display screen with Manish Malhotra’s movie ‘Bun Tikki’, which additionally stars Abhay Deol and Shabana Azmi. The movie is directed by Faraz Arif Ansari and likewise stars actor Abhay Deol. Jyoti Deshpande, Dinesh Malhotra, and Marijke Desouza will produce the movie beneath the umbrella of Manish Malhotra’s Stage 5 Productions.
