Dev Anand was 'desperately' in love with THIS superstar, got jealous when Raj Kapoor 'kissed' her

Dev Anand, a superstar of Bollywood for nearly two decades, has many stories associated with him which see the light of day, years after his death. Not many people are aware that Dev Anand was admittedly 'desperately' in love with superstar Zeenat Aman in the 70s when she was just 20 years old. Even after years of her achieving superstardom, Dev Anand always remained mesmerised by her. The actor once admitted that when he saw Raj Kapoor kissing her at a premiere, he felt jealous. Interestingly, Zeenat Aman has denied that the kiss happened.

In Romancing with Life, his autobiography, Dev Anand wrote, "Suddenly, one day I felt I was desperately in love with Zeenat… And wanted to say to her! To make an honest confession, at a very special, exclusive place meant for romance. I chose the Rendezvous at the Taj, on top of the city, where we had dined together once earlier."

Recalling the incident where Raj Kapoor allegedly kissed Zeenat Aman, Dev Anand wrote, "After the premiere of Ishk Ishk Ishk at Metro cinema, Raj Kapoor kissed Zeenat in full view of the invited audience, congratulating her for her sparkling performance in the film. That must have made her evening all the more sparkling. Yet, I was jealous of him for making advances on what I considered my sole possession, my discovery, my leading lady, and desiring her with a kiss."

"This suddenly struck me as a little too familiar. And the way she reciprocated his embrace seemed much more than just polite and courteous… More embarrassment was written large on her face, and Zeenat was not the same Zeenat for me anymore. My heart broke into pieces… The rendezvous had already lost all meaning in my mind, I sneaked out of the place," Dev Anand added. 

Zeenat Aman, some years ago at an event by Algebra Conversations, denied what Dev Anand wrote and said, "I respect Dev sahab greatly. It is because of him that I became a movie star. But, he had his perspective on what was happening that evening, which is completely different from mine."

Zeenat Aman further said, "I had no idea that he was going to tell me that he was in love with me or he wanted to marry me. I was completely clueless."

READ | Abhishek Bachchan's biggest flop film was made for Rs 45 crores, actress never worked with him again, it earned only..