To Hide My Belly, Crew Came Up With Creative Shots

Zeenat Aman posted this throwback. (courtesy: thezeenataman)

New Delhi:

Zeenat Aman, who made her Instagram debut last year, loves to share different facets of life on social media – be it cherished memories from film sets, anecdotes from her travel diaries or vivid descriptions her favourite cuisines. In her latest Instagram post, Zeenat Aman writes about her 1987 film Daku Hasina. The veteran actress revealed in her post that she was pregnant during the filming and by the end of the project, she was in her third trimester. So, the crew had to come up with creative ways of hiding her baby bump. Zeenat Aman also mentioned that this “was one of the last films I did before my extended hiatus.”

She began the note with these words, “Daku Hasina was your classic story of vengeance. Roopa, orphaned when her parents are killed by powerful village overlords, seeks the help of infamous dacoit Mangal Singh (The iconic Rajinikanth in one of his few Bollywood cameos) to extract revenge. Under his guidance, she transforms into the ruthless Daku Hasina, and so begins her reign of terror. The police scramble to apprehend her, but ah! There is a twist in the tale. What is the relationship between SP Ranjit Saxena (played by none other than Rakesh Roshan ) and the lady dacoit?”

To keep Zeenat Aman’s pregnancy under wraps during the filming, some really creative shots were designed. Recalling the shooting days, Zeenat Aman wrote, “I became pregnant early on in the shoot, and by the end of filming was well into my third trimester! My svelte figure had naturally ballooned, so to hide my belly the crew came up with various creative shots. Some of these involved me riding a horse, which brought its own concerns. I had had a scare on horseback during a previous shoot, when the poor animal had bolted because of the artificial rain and blaring speakers on set. I wasn’t nervous about my own safety, but the safety of the child in my womb was of utmost importance. Luckily, we were able to shoot these scenes without any incident.”

Among the many memories of the film, was also a special cameo appearance (not just by Rajinikanth).  “One’s memory is such a slippery thing. While looking up clips from the film, I found that Mazhar, the father of my children, also had a special appearance in it. He’s there in the qawwali number, which I had clean forgotten,” Zeenat Aman wrote.

Sharing some more details about the film, Zeenat Aman wrote, “Daku Hasina released in 1987, and it was quite true to the mood of the time. A feminist storm was sweeping through India in the 80s. Legal reforms and social awareness on gender were the talk of town, thanks to the exceptional women activists of the time. There was a certain air of liberation, not to mention indignation at the horrors of the patriarchy, and it felt oh so good to play an ass-kicking role. I don’t think the film did very well, but these posters are such vintage gems that I just had to share them with you. I wish I could find more stills from it – because my look was just so cool – but alas there seem to be very few out there.”

Read Zeenat Aman’s post here:

Zeenat Aman’s iconic film credits need no introduction. The former beauty queen is the star of hit films like Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Don, Yaadon Ki Baraat, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Qurbani, Dostana and Dharam Veer, to name a few. In terms of work, she will next be seen in Bun Tikki with Shabana Azmi, Abhay Deol.