This 70s Bollywood heroine, who once made hearts skip a beat with her beauty, style, and grace, shared that Amitabh Bachchan once apologised to her because of a drunk director who humiliated her on set.
Yes! Zeenat Aman, on the occasion of Big B's 81st birthday last year, penned a long note on Instagram. She recalled an incident on set that brought her to tears. Zeenat once a "drunk" director wrongly accused her of being late for shooting and humiliated her.
Later Amitabh Bachchan apologised to her on the director's behalf. the actress wrote, "For reasons that will become clear – I’m not going to mention the name of the film we were shooting for, nor the year, nor the names of the director and producer involved."
Zeenat Aman recalled that on a day with a morning shift, she rode to the set with the film's producer while rehearsing her lines. Upon arriving, she went to her makeup room and asked the crew to notify her when Amitabh Bachchan was ready. As time passed—30 minutes, then 45, and finally an hour—she received a knock on the door.
She mentioned, "We had a morning shift that day, and I hitched a ride to set with the film’s producer. As always, I had my script in hand and rehearsed my lines as we drove to the studio. Upon my arrival I went directly to my makeup room, and informed the crew to send me a message once Mr. Bachchan was ready for the shot. Our 'roll time' came and went, but there was no sign of Mr. Bachchan. 30 minutes passed. Then 45. An entire hour went by before there was a knock on the door. An AD informed me the Mr. Bachchan had arrived. And that he’d run straight from his car to the set!”
Zeenat remembered jumping up and going downstairs, but when she got to the set, the director started yelling at her. He was confused and thought she was the one who delayed the shoot. The cast and crew stood in shock as he ranted at her, and she felt tears of anger welling up. Upset, she glared at the director, turned around, went back to her makeup room, and told her team to pack up.
"Even as they zipped up my makeup kit, the lovely producer arrived at my door, followed closely by Mr. Bachchan. 'Babs, I know it’s my fault. The man is a fool and he’s drunk. Let it go and let’s get to work,' he said. I accepted Mr. Bachchan’s apology of course but I was still stinging from the unwarranted dressing down I had received. I was in no mood to shoot after that humiliation. When I finally softened and agreed to come back on set, the director threw himself at my feet and begged my forgiveness. It was all rather melodramatic, and though I completed the film, I never worked with that director again," Zeenat concluded.
On the work front, Zeenat Aman and Amitabh Bachchan have collaborated on several films, including Laawaris (1981), Dostana (1980), Mahaan (1983), and Pukar (1983), among others.
