Bollywood veteran Zeenat Aman on Tuesday penned a heartfelt note about her contemporary actress Dimple Kapadia, recalling how the latter was among a “mere handful of people” who publicly supported her during a difficult phase of her life.
Sharing a never-before-seen picture with Kapadia and filmmaker Joy Mukherjee, Zeenat wrote, “This isn’t a post about Dimple’s talent though she has that in spades, it’s about the little I saw of her character. During a very difficult phase in my life she was one of a mere handful of people who publicly stood by me. This despite the criticism and scrutiny of her own life that the decision invited! In those trying times she revealed to me a strength of character that I admire to date.”
In the monochrome picture, Zeenat can be seen smoking while engrossed in conversation with Joy and Dimple. The veteran actress, who is set to star in Faraz Arif Ansari’s Bun Tikki, wrote that she cannot recollect where the picture was taken but she is certain that it is related to her film Chhailla Babu.
“Perhaps it’s a BTS shot from the set. I say this because while the chairs scream ‘production’, I’m in my own clothes not a costume. With me are the director of the film Joy Mukherjee and the effervescent Dimple Kapadia, who must have been visiting the set as she was married to the lead actor (Rajesh Khanna),” she wrote.
Kapadia was married to the late actor Rajesh Khanna. She has two daughters — Rinke Khanna and Twinkle Khanna.
Tagging Twinkle in the post, Zeenat wrote, “ I don’t believe she (Kapadia) is on Instagram, but perhaps @twinklerkhanna will pass on my love to her.
Zeenat mentioned that both she and Dimple got their big career breaks because of Raj Kapoor. “She was a teenager, when she was cast in and as Bobby. Whereas I was able to deliver a blow to my ‘western image’ thanks to SSS (Satyam Shivam Sundaram),” the Don actress wrote.
The Satyam Shivam Sundaram actress concluded her note by asking her fans to not be influenced by her smoking in the picture. She confessed that she used to enjoy a few cigarettes a day between her late teenage years and early thirties. However, when she was pregnant with her first child, Azaan Khan, she quit the habit.
Filmmaker Tanuja Chandra reacted to Zeenat’s post. “An amazing photo and a more amazing story to go with it. Isn’t it so nice that after decades you cherish the moments colleagues stood by you? So cool,” she wrote in the comments section.
Zeenat last appeared in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s 2019 epic war drama Panipat alongside Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt and Kriti Sanon. She will be next seen in Bun Tikki and Margaon the Closed File.
