12 January,2024 07:14 AM IST | Mumbai | ANI
Zeenat Aman and Deepika Padukone. Pics/Yogen Shah
With her acting prowess, actress Deepika Padukone has found a home in the hearts of moviegoers. Even veteran actress Zeenat Aman is an admirer of her work. In the latest episode of Disney+Hotstar's 'Koffee with Karan 8', Zeenat Aman marked her gracious presence with Neetu Kapoor. The two went down memory lane as they discussed their busy work life, co-stars, marriage, motherhood, and even grandmotherhood with host Karan Johar.
Interestingly, during the rapid-fire segment, Karan went on to ask Zeenat about her choice of actress who would be appropriate to play the role of Rupa in the sequel to Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978). Without any second thought, she took the name of Deepika Padukone. 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram' is a 1978 romantic drama film produced and directed by Raj Kapoor and written by Jainendra Jain. It starred Shashi Kapoor and Zeenat Aman in the lead roles. In the film, she played the role of Rupa with a disfigured face.
During the episode, Zeenat recalled how she got the role in the iconic, albeit controversial film, 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 prepared for the role, 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 said later to his wife, 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."
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She added that he showed the clip to film 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 screen with Manish Malhotra's film 'Bun Tikki', which also stars Abhay Deol and Shabana Azmi. The film is directed by Faraz Arif Ansari and also stars actor Abhay Deol. Jyoti Deshpande, Dinesh Malhotra, and Marijke Desouza will produce the film under the umbrella of Manish Malhotra's Stage 5 Productions.
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