Zeenat Aman recalls being accused of 'obscenity' in Satyam Shivam Sundaram, drops look test from Raj Kapoor film

The veteran actress Zeenat Aman recently made her Instagram debut. As her sixth post, she shared a rare photo of her look test from the iconic film Satyam Shivam Sundaram and addressed the 'accusations of obscenity' she had to face for playing the character of Rupa in the Raj Kapoor film.

Talking about the photo, the 71-year-old actress wrote, "This picture was taken by photographer J P Singhal during a look test for Satyam Shivam Sundaram around 1977. We shot the series at R K Studios, and my costumes were designed by Oscar winner Bhanu Athaiya."

Sharing her thoughts on the 'controversy' surrounding her 'sensuality' in the 1978 romantic drama film, she stated, "Anyone acquainted with the history of Bollywood will know that there was much controversy and brouhaha about my character Rupa in Satyam Shivam Sundaram. I was always quite amused by the accusations of obscenity as I did not and do not find anything obscene about the human body. I am a director’s actor and these looks were part of my job. Rupa’s sensuality was not the crux of the plot, but a part of it. As it is, the set is not even remotely a sensual space. Every move is choreographed, rehearsed and performed in front of dozens of crew members."

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Zeenat Aman (@thezeenataman)

"Director Raj Kapoor (Rajji) had brought me on board the film, but was concerned about my "western" image. He was unsure whether the audience would accept me in this avatar, and so conducted this look test. Later, on the basis of this test, we shot a small reel picturised on Lata ji’s famous song Jaago Mohan Pyare from the 1956 film Jagte Raho. Rajji held a screening of the reel at R K Studios to gauge the response of his distributors to me in this role. After that first screening, the rights for all territories were immediately sold", she concluded recalling how she bagged the film and how was it sold to the distributors.

Apart from Zeenat Aman, Shashi Kapoor starred as the leading man in Satyam Shivam Sundaram. Laxmikant-Pyarelal won the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for their brilliant soundtrack consisting of songs such as the title track, Bhor Bhaye Panghat Pe, Yashomati Maiya Se Bole Nandlala, and Chanchal Sheetal Nirmal Komal among others.

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