When Dev Anand said he was madly in love with Zeenat Aman, had his heart broken when he saw Raj Kapoor kissing her

In his autobiography, Romancing with Life, which hit the stands in 2007, 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.”

 

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A post shared by Zeenat Aman (@thezeenataman)

“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.”

He added, “This suddenly struck me as a little too familiar. And the way she reciprocated his embrace seemed much more than just polite and courteous.” The actor even hinted that Raj Kapoor expressed his disappointment in the actress for not keeping her promise of always wearing a white saree when accompanying him.

 

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A post shared by Zeenat Aman (@thezeenataman)

“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.”

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Zeenat Aman dismissed Dev Anand’s claims

Zeenat Aman addressed these claims several times and refused any such relationship between her and Raj Kapoor. A couple of years ago, while speaking at an event by Algebra Conversations, Zeenat Aman 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.”

She added, “The thing is I have done a lot of movies with Dev Anand and he considered me his protege. I had been working with Raj ji, and we had been shooting and he had also mentioned that he was going to be at this place and Dev sahab was also at the same place, so I went across and greeted him (Raj Kapoor). Obviously, because he was my co-star and I had aspirations to be in his movie.”

The actress further explained, “I don’t know what Dev sahab took away from that because that was kind of weird. 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.”

Years later, Zeenat Aman addressed the same issue on Instagram.

In April last year, sharing a picture of herself with Dev Anand, Zeenat Aman shared, “I was now keen to broaden my portfolio. Meanwhile Raj ji’s 1973 release Bobby had been a blockbuster hit that had swept every award. We knew each other socially too, exchanging warm greetings at public events. He was also my costar in Vakil Babu and Gopichand Jasoos. Naturally I wanted to be directed by him under the RK banner, and when the opportunity arose I jumped at it. The story of how I landed SSS is well-known, so I won’t repeat it.”

 

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A post shared by Zeenat Aman (@thezeenataman)

She added, “I was giddy to have been cast for Raj ji’s unconventional project, and put heart and soul into it. I was completely unaware that Dev saab was simultaneously misreading the situation.”

Zeenat Aman expressed her anger after learning about Dev Anand’s claims in his autobiography.

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‘I felt humiliated, livid’

She said, “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!”

Zeenat shared this episode embarrassed her deeply and she wasn’t able to talk about it to set the record straight.

In another event, Zeenat refuted Raj Kapoor’s obsession with seeing her in white saree. Claiming she met Raj Kapoor at the event because he had signed her for Satyam Shivam Sundaram, the actress told ABP, “I would meet him (Raj Kapoor) as his about-to-be heroine. We never had any interpersonal relationship ever, nor during that time, or before or after, never. He was passionate about his work. I was passionate about my work”

“Also, he never asked me, ‘why you didn’t wear white?’. Whenever I meet him, be it on a set or at a function, and you can see the old photographs as well, I have never worn white when I met him,” she added.

Zeenat married actor Mazhar Khan. However, her marriage with him was not a very happy one. Despite all the challenges, the actress stayed in the marriage for 12 years, until his passing away. She has two sons with her second husband.