Zeenat
Aman
had
scored
more
hit
songs
than
any
of
her
contemporaries.
This
can
be
attributed
partly
to
happenstance
and
partly
to
the
fact
that
her
forte
for
high
glamour
could
be
showcased
most
winningly
in
a
crowd-pleasing
number,
observes
Dinesh
Raheja.
Zeenat
Aman
was
the
‘it’
girl
of
the
’70s
and
’80s.
She
not
only
made
skin
‘in’
with
her
penchant
for
bold
outfits
but
also
added
multiple
dimensions
to
the
Hindi
film
heroine
with
her
thematically
daring
roles
like
the
stoned
flower
child
in
Hare
Rama
Hare
Krishna,
the
happy
hooker
in
Manoranjan
or
the
repentant
gold
digger
in
Roti
Kapda
Aur
Makaan.
Interestingly,
Zeenat
had
also
scored
more
hit
songs
than
any
of
her
contemporaries.
When
creative
ambition
converges
with
guts,
a
repertoire
like
Zeenat
Aman’s
takes
shape.
Of
course,
this
can
be
attributed
partly
to
happenstance
and
partly
to
the
fact
that
her
forte
for
high
glamour
could
be
showcased
most
winningly
in
a
crowd-pleasing
number.
A
day
after
Zeenat
turned
73
on
November
19,
Dinesh
Raheja
continues
the
celebrations
by
looking
at
eight
of
her
definitive
chartbusters.
Dum
Maro
Dum
from
Hare
Rama
Hare
Krishna,
1972
21-year-old
Zeenat
Aman
had
hitherto
done
only
bit
roles
in
Hindi
films.
But
when
this
tawny
temptress
swayed
to
Composer
R
D
Burman’s
psychedelic
rock
tune
Dum
Maaro
Dum
in
Hare
Rama
Hare
Krishna,
she
caught
the
imagination
of
a
generation!
This
Asha
Bhosle
song
topped
the
Binaca
Geetmala
charts
for
1972,
and
catapulted
Zeenat
to
overnight
stardom.
Playing
Janice,
the
hero’s
(actor-director
Dev
Anand)
estranged
drug-addicted
sister,
Zeenat
danced
like
in
a
trance
and
hypnotised
the
audience.
Her
Bohemian
look
—
short
silk
kurti
over
palazzos,
accessorized
with
oversized
sunglasses
and
long,
beaded
necklaces
—
was
the
talk
of
the
town.
Nobody
ever
cast
her
in
sister
roles
thereafter.
Filmed
in
a
smoky
hashish
den,
Dum
Maaro
Dum
became
the
clarion
call
for
the
1970s
hippie
counterculture…
and
also
for
everyday
teens
getting
their
groove
on.
Zeenat
embodied
the
song’s
rebellious
credo:
Hum
Sab
Ki
Parwah
Kare
Kyon
Sabne
Hamara
Kiya
Kya?
Even
today,
the
music
of
Dum
Maro
Dum
is
recognised
within
a
few
beats.
But
the
recent
remix,
despite
Deepika’s
presence,
just
didn’t
have
the
‘Dum‘
to
recreate
the
Zeenat
magic.
Chura
Liya
Hai
Tumne
fromYaadon
Ki
Baraat,
1973
The
R
D
Burman-Asha
Bhosle
combination
has
contributed
immensely
to
Zeenat’s
oeuvre
of
songs
as
evidenced
in
this
lilting
karaoke
favourite,
Chura
Liya
Hai
Tumne
Jo
Dil
Ko.
Zeenat
hit
the
fashion
scene
like
a
tornado
with
this
trendsetting
song.
She
looks
like
a
vision
in
white.
With
her
middle-parted
free-flowing
hair,
her
hoop
earrings
and
her
flared,
long-sleeved
jumpsuit,
she
emancipated
women
from
itchy
bouffants
and
breath-poppingly
tight
churidar
kurtas.
Whether
she
was
strumming
the
guitar
with
the
confidence
of
a
band
player,
or
dancing,
maybe
not
with
expertise
but
surely
with
grace,
Zeenat
is
the
very
definition
of
cool.
She
gets
to
lip
sync
the
majority
of
the
three-stanzas,
and,
without
decimating
the
dapper-looking
Vijay
Arora,
ensures
that
one
will
‘churao‘
a
look
at
her
in
the
actor’s
portions
too.
The
sound
of
clinking
glasses
was
part
of
RD’s
musical
innovations
in
O
Haseena
Zulfowali
from
Nasir
Hussain’s
Teesri
Manzil
(1966),
and
it
reappears
in
this
song
from
Nasir
Hussain’s
Yaadon
Ki
Baraat
(1973),
creating
an
unforgettable
musical
intro.
Haaey
Haaey
Yeh
Majboori
from
Roti
Kapda
Aur
Makaan,
1974
Zeenat
displayed
some
serious
sizzle
to
make
a
scorcher
of
a
song
which
even
rainwater
can’t
dampen.
Sporting
a
wet,
tightly-draped
sari,
Zeenat
cavorted
in
the
monsoons
trying
to
entice
lover
Manoj
Kumar
into
joining
her,
and
the
rain
song
as
a
siren
call
reached
its
apogee.
Armed
with
the
sexy
swivelling
of
her
hips,
Zeenat
initiated
this
romance
in
the
rains
and
altered
attitudes
on
the
depiction
of
sensuality
in
Hindi
cinema.
This
film
had
Zeenat
showing
some
derring-do
by
taking
on
a
grey-shaded
role.
She
tellingly
turns
fiancé Manoj
Kumar’s
framed
photograph
towards
the
wall
once
millionaire
Shashi
Kapoor
proposes.
But
before
that
eventuality,
she
ironically
rebukes
Manoj
for
being
materialistic
in
this
Lata
Mangeshkar-voiced
seduction
blockbuster.
‘Teri
Do
Takiya
Do
Naukari
Ke
Mera
Lakhon
Ka
Sawan
Jaaye,’
she
seductively
teases
the
hapless
leading
man
who
has
to
stay
dry
for
a
job
interview.
But
he
is
sorely
tempted.
The
audience
totally
empathised.
Bheegi
Bheegi
Raaton
Mein
from
Ajnabee,
1974
The
rains
are
a
popular
staple
to
establish
intimacy
between
nubile
lovers
in
Hindi
films,
and
many
a
film
drenched
Zeenat
in
rain
songs.
One
spinoff
was
that
it
engendered
some
melodious
numbers
which
proved
to
be
immense
crowd
pleasers
like
Ajnabee‘s
Bheegi
Bheegi
Raaton
Mein.
Rajesh
Khanna
was
the
reigning
superstar
but
Zeenat
also
was
a
bonafide
film
star
by
now
and
the
twosome
set
the
screen
afire
with
their
smouldering
expressions
and
antics.
Zeenat’s
windblown
white-and-pastel
nightgown
has
strings
which
Khanna
unties
with
his
teeth!
Ajnabee
was
not
a
hit,
but
this
Lata-Kishore
Kumar
number
was.
And
it
remains
a
favoured
choice
at
antakshari.
One
can
feel
the
raindrops
on
one’s
face
whenever
one
recalls
the
song’s
spirit
of
joyous
abandon.
Hai
Agar
Dushman
Zamana
from
Hum
Kisise
Kam
Nahin,
1977
Zeenat
was
the
hottest
pin-up
in
the
country
by
the
mid
1970s
but
the
westernised
star
proved
she
could
do
justice
to
a
traditional
qawwali
as
well
with
Hai
Agar
Dushman
Zamana.
Watch
Zeenat
shine
in
a
floor-grazing
black
dress
with
silver
trimmings
too.
She
styled
her
shoulder-length
hair
in
a
trendy
step
cut
to
ensure
that
her
pairing
with
a
younger
and
shorter
Rishi
Kapoor
didn’t
jar.
Zeenat
couldn’t
match
Rishi’s
myriad
expressions
but
like
him,
she
had
panache.
For
several
youngsters,
this
hit
Asha-Mohammed
Rafi
number
became
an
ode
to
rebellion
against
parental
tyranny.
When
Zeenat
defies
her
domineering
father,
Ajit,
and
joins
Rishi
on
stage,
the
song
made
for
riveting
drama.
Zeenat
had
but
a
cameo
in
the
film
but
with
her
spirited
performance
she
asserted:
Hum
Kisise
Kam
Nahin!
Satyam
Shivam
Sundaram
from
Satyam
Shivam
Sundaram,
1978
One
of
the
most
famous
devotional
songs
in
Hindi
films
of
the
last
50
years,
the
title
number
of
Satyam
Shivam
Sundaram
was
a
landmark
for
all
concerned
—
Composers
Laxmikant
Pyarelal,
Singer
Lata
Mangeshkar,
Director
Raj
Kapoor
and
Zeenat
Aman.
Though
the
urbanised
Zeenat
may
not
have
been
the
right
choice
for
the
role
of
a
village
girl,
and
though
the
film
wasn’t
a
box
office
bonanza,
Satyam
Shivam
Sundaram
remains
a
cultural
milestone
thanks
to
the
tremendous
hype
it
generated.
Not
least
because
of
Zeenat’s
famously
abbreviated
costumes.
The
conflict
between
the
physical
and
the
emotional
realms
in
Satyam
Shivam
Sundaram‘s
theme
was
mirrored
in
Kapoor’s
highly
eroticised
treatment
of
an
emotional
story
about
the
unmarked
soul
of
a
woman,
Roopa
(Zeenat
Aman)
with
a
scarred
face.
The
title
song
eloquently
articulates
Roopa’s
faith
in
the
divine
which
has
helped
her
overcome
the
many
misfortunes
in
her
life.
Aap
Jaisa
Koi
Meri
Zindagi
from
Qurbani,
1980
When
Zeenat
Aman
grooved
to
Aap
Jaisa
Koi
Meri
Zindagi
Mein
Aaye
Toh
Baat
Ban
Jaaye,
she
unwittingly
echoed
the
male
audiences’
feelings
for
her.
Showing
off
her
svelte
figure
in
a
scarlet
dress
with
a
neckline
that
plunged
deep,
Zeenat
looked
so
hot
in
this
chartbuster,
it
sent
the
mercury
jumping
right
out
of
the
thermometer.
And
that
come-hither
wink
she
lavished
on
hero
Feroz
Khan,
it
left
him
as
well
as
the
paying
audience
breathless
and
wide-eyed.
Teenaged
Nazia
Hassan
became
a
brief
sensation
after
singing
this
number.
Aap
Jaisa
Koi
was
composed
by
Biddu,
and
his
beats
plus
Zeenat’s
fluid
moves
heralded
the
start
of
the
disco
era
in
Hindi
films.
Laila
Main
Laila
from
Qurbani,
1980
The
times
they
were
a-changin.
But
even
with
the
onset
of
a
new
decade,
Zeenat
proved
she
was
a
durable
diva
who
could
smoothly
cross
over
into
the
1980s.
In
a
low
decolletage
and
high-slit
white
column
dress,
Zeenat
Aman
as
a
club
singer
crooning
Laila
O
Laila
was
a
surefire
showstopper.
Kanchan’s
voice,
Kalyanji
Anandji’s
composition
and
Indeevar’s
words,
Jisko
Bhi
Dekhoon
Majnoon
Bana
Doon,
all
rang
true
when
they
were
fronted
by
the
visual
of
Zeenat
holding
the
floor
with
her
sinuous
steps.
Qurbani‘s
male
leads,
Vinod
Khanna,
Feroz
Khan
and
Amjad
Khan
were
not
the
only
ones
who
went
ballistic
over
this
luscious
Laila.
The
audience
rocked
to
Laila
with
a
frenzy
that
Sunny
Leone
could
only
hope
for
with
her
remix.
