Zeenat Aman recalls when scandalous headlines in tabloids caused her anxiety, calls it ‘public humiliation’

She added, “There was a time that I subscribed to glossies and tabloids, but that passed very quickly. I could not relate at all to the person they presented me as. The headlines would be adulatory one day and vicious the very next. There was little by way of fact checking, and no remorse for errors made. When they got the story right – it was usually a colossal breach of privacy. When they got it wrong – those blatant lies would be taken as the gospel. These “scandals” took their toll. It was its own form of public humiliation, and I remember the anxiety, outrage and grief that came with these.”

Zeenat then revealed that at one point, she realised it was impossible to change the image they wanted to create of her. When she confronted an editor about a hurtful story, the editor made excuses but didn’t apologise. Zeenat decided not to take it personally and understood that their main goal was to sell magazines, even if it was undignified.

She concluded, “All this is just to say – people will always find reason to talk, and so it’s probably best not to allow their opinion or perception to define your life. You can do that for yourself.”

Zeenat has acted in films like Hare Rama Hare Krishna,  Heera Panna, Yaadon Ki Baaraat, Dharam Veer, Shalimar and Don.

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