‘Mad in love’ Dev Anand was heartbroken when he saw Raj Kapoor hugging Zeenat Aman: Legend’s friend questions actress 

‘Dev Anand felt bad because he wasn’t kept in confidence by Zeenat’

Speaking to Vickey Lalwani, Mohan said, “Dev Anand did not lie about anyone. He didn’t say anything wrong about anyone. I think it is right what he wrote about Zeenat in the book. Zeenat even came for the book’s launch in 2007. Dev Anand was alive four years after the book was launch, so why didn’t she confront him when he was alive?”

Talking about the incident and reiterating that he believes every word Dev Anand wrote, Mohan said, “Dev sahab has written everything clearly in the book. And from his writing, it is clear that when they went to the party and Zeenat Aman tried to touch Raj Kapoor’s feet, she looked back at Dev Anand, feeling awkward about whether what she’s doing is right. Also, the fact that Raj Kapoor told her that she made a promise to him only to wear white clothes. At that point, Dev sahab understood that the rumours are correct.”

He added, “So Dev sahab asked them to continue and left the party because Dev sahab‘s dinner with Zeenat Aman was already fixed at the Taj after the party. Zeenat and Dev Sahab both had decided that they will go, show their faces at the party, and then go to Taj together for dinner. But when he sensed that Zeenat and Raj Kapoor’s interaction were very deep, he felt uncomfortable. He felt bad because he wasn’t kept in confidence by Zeenat and he shared a good friendship with Raj Kapoor. Dev sahab felt that Zeenat at least should have hinted him about Raj Kapoor. He felt that he was thinking seriously about Zeenat, and she kept everything hidden, and now at the party, when Raj Kapoor came in, accidentally everything was revealed.”

Mohan further shared that Dev Anand even sensed guilt in Raj Kapoor. “Dev sahab then excused himself and said I have to go somewhere but Zeenat stopped him, saying that they have dinner planned. Even Raj Kapoor held his hand tightly and refused to let him go. Dev sahab felt that Raj Kapoor must be feeling guilty but he left the party anyway.”

When asked if Dev Anand believed that Zeenat Aman and Raj Kapoor were in a relationship, Mohan replied, “100 percent. Relationship in the sense that she met Raj Kapoor for Satyam Shivam Sundaram without telling Dev Anand about it. Also, the conversation between Zeenat and Raj Kapoor about her wearing white clothes, so all these things were revealed at the party.”

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What did Dev Anand write in his autobiography about Zeenat Aman and Raj Kapoor?

Dev Anand wrote in the book, “Suddenly, one day I felt I was desperately in love with Zeenat? And wanted to say so 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.”

Dev shared that he and Zeenat decided to go to the Taj after attending a party together. However, at the party, they met Raj Kapoor, who put his arms around Zeenat. “This suddenly struck me as a little too familiar. And the way she reciprocated his embrace seemed much more than just polite and courteous,” he wrote.

In the book, Anand hinted that something was brewing between Zeenat and Raj Kapoor and that it angered him. He further wrote that after a drink, Raj Kapoor told Zeenat, ‘You are breaking your promise that you will always be seen by me only in a white sari.’ Dev wrote, “More embarrassment was written large on her face, and Zeenat was not the same Zeenat for me any more. My heart broke into pieces…The rendezvous had already lost all meaning in my mind. I sneaked out of the place.”

How did Zeenat Aman react?

In her Instagram post in 2023, Zeenat reacted sharply to Dev Anand’s claims. She wrote, “In 2007, ‘Romancing with Life’, Dev Saab’s autobiography hit the stands. In it he professed that he was in love with me, and insinuated that Raj ji and I had more than a director-actor equation which broke his heart. To be honest, I was livid. I felt humiliated, hurt and disconcerted that Dev saab, my much older mentor, a person I loved and admired platonically, would not only believe such a story devoid of a shred of truth, but would then go on to publish it for the world to read. For weeks my phone rang incessantly as friends inquired about “what really happened” and shared excerpts from the book. I never did read it though, and in my anger I consigned the copy I was sent to storage in the basement!”