Veteran actress Zeenat Aman reminisced about how she “took long pulls from chillums” for the 1971 song “Dum maro dum”, which left her “high as a kite”
A still from Hare Rama Hare Krishna
Dev Anand Birth Anniversary 2024: Veteran actress and diva Zeenat Aman reminisced about how she “took long pulls from chillums” for the 1971 song “Dum maro dum”, which left her “high as a kite”.
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Zeenat took to Instagram, where she posted a still from the iconic number that featured in the film “Hare Rama Hare Krishna”, directed by Dev Anand. The movie dealt with the decadence of the Hippie culture and aimed to have an anti-drug message.
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She recalled: “We were in Kathmandu shooting Hare Rama Hare Krishna, and Dev Saab had rounded up a gaggle of hippies from the streets to be featured in the song. Which song? The picture is a dead giveaway - Dum Maro Dum of course!”
“The hippy extras were delighted with their good fortune. They were not only getting to pack their chillums with hashish in beautiful Nepal, they were also getting free food, going to feature in a Bollywood movie and were being paid to boot!”
She shared that the late legendary actor-filmmaker Dev Anand wanted authenticity in this sequence.
“My character, the drug addled Janice, had to really look stoned. And the easiest way to achieve this was to partake in the hippy offerings! So there I was, still in my teens, gamely taking long pulls from their chillum for take after take. By the time we wrapped the day’s work I was high as a kite! I was in no state to return to the hotel in that happy, dizzy and slightly gormless haze.”
She shared that some of the team members packed her into a car and took the actress on a drive to a beautiful vantage point.
“There in the cold mountain air, I contemplated the Himalayas and slowly, peacefully came down from my high.”
Zeenat revealed that her mother was furious when she learnt about what happened.
“I later found out that my mother was furious when she learnt what happened, and gave the senior crew members a sharp tongue lashing for allowing her precious child to “do drugs”! Luckily, I was spared her wrath.”
“Well, what can I say, it was the 70s, and I was something of a flower child.”
She further shared that this October, she will be in Mumbai, Delhi and Jaipur sharing many such anecdotes, and grooving to the most memorable numbers from her films.
“All performed by a live band. This is a musical extravaganza especially created for “my generation” of fans! Don’t forget to book tickets for your parents, aunts, uncles and anyone else who grew up dancing to my songs. Yeh Shaam Mastani”.
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