Epitome Of Grace And Gorgeous At 71, Aap Jaisa Koi Nahi, Zeenat Aman!

Laughing at the places life takes me. Why hello there, Instagram, said Zeenat Aman on her Instagram post just a couple of weeks ago.

This was her first post on the social media platform and right away we are seeing why this is a woman of substance, why the 70-year-old personifies grace. Notoriously private, she now gives us glimpses into her past and her present – and drops some truth bombs along the way.

The ‘Zeenie Baby’ years

I remember watching Qurbani at the Drive-in theatre as a small child – one of my first memories of a movie on the big screen and being mesmerized by the iconic song ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’. This was the time when Zeenat Aman was firmly established as a sex symbol of the silver screen; often criticised for the sensual roles she played.

After being crowned Miss India and then Miss Asia Pacific International in 1970, she had her first big hit as the drugged up hippie sister of Dev Anand in Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Her career defining role was as Rupa in Satyam Shivam Sundaram which required some skin show; which attracted the charge of ‘obscenity’.

As Zeenat Aman points out in her post, this was amusing then and is now as well because there is nothing “obscene about the human body” Agreed … it is only ever the gaze that is obscene.

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Zeenat Aman has not been a social media presence probably because she self-describes as notoriously private. In her heyday, she would have been hounded as a celebrity and as sex symbol and for what she has had to endure in her private life: Her unhappy marriage to Mazhar Khan, the annulled marriage to Sanjay Khan and the horrific story of being physically abused by Khan which left her with several injuries including the still visible lazy eye.

When she speaks about the thin line between interest in a public figure and the sense of entitlement that people have to know every detail of that figure in this post, she is likely speaking from personal experience. And as she says – there are most certainly more interesting things than the he-said-she-said of the gossip mills. You tell them, Zeenat!

Zeenat Aman on going grey

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Women are judged on parameters of youth and physical beauty and Zeenat Aman undoubtedly knows a thing or two about this.

We see repeatedly how many female actors are firmly nailed to the metaphorical shelf by the time they past the first flush of youth, but male actors can continue to play aging Lotharios well into their 50s. It is the double standard that exists in society and finds echoes in the film industry as well.

In this post, she speaks about embracing her greys and how she really doesn’t care to buttress our society’s idolisation of youth. Brava carissima!

Adopt don’t shop, says Zeenat Aman, and we love it!

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Rescuing a sick puppy, check. Adopting said sick puppy after nursing it to health, check. Earning the matchless love of a canine and giving it right back, check. Sending out the ‘adopt don’t shop’ message, check! Good for you Zeenie Baby!

Much has changed… but much remains the same

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In her first internet post, Zeenat Aman pointed out how back in the day there were hardly any women in the film industry and how that has changed for the better. In this post she also points out how women’s roles in Hindi films are no longer just ornamental. The gender pay gap however remains – a glaring and constant reminder of how gender discrimination is persistent and all-pervasive in social and professional spheres.

Zeenat Aman was always more than just a beautiful woman or just a talented actor. She had grace and intelligence that communicated themselves. Even while she played the woman that two men fought over in Qurbani, she still was seen to have agency. If her articulate Instagram posts are anything to go by, Zeenat Aman is likely to be dropping more truth bombs — for her 88K followers and counting.

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