Veteran actor Zeenat Aman has spoken about the disconnect between her glamorous on-screen image and her real-life personality, saying the "sex symbol" label that followed her throughout her career never truly reflected who she was.
In a recent interview, the 74-year-old said people were often surprised when they met her in person because she was very different from the bold characters she portrayed on screen. She added that the image created around her in films often overshadowed her true personality.
Reflecting on the Hindi film industry of the 1970s, Zeenat described film sets as heavily male-dominated and said filmmakers were generally more interested in her appearance than her ideas. Despite being a leading star, she felt her creative input was rarely sought, with producers focusing mainly on her singing, dancing and glamorous screen presence.
The actor also discussed her approach to fashion, revealing that her own style suggestions were usually more restrained than what filmmakers wanted. According to Zeenat, producers frequently pushed for more revealing costumes, while her personal contributions tended to be comparatively modest.
Zeenat Aman remains one of Hindi cinema's most iconic stars, known for redefining female characters in the 1970s through confident and independent roles. She was recently seen in the Netflix series The Royals and will next appear in Bun Tikki alongside Abhay Deol and Shabana Azmi.
