Even though Shabana Azmi and Zeenat Aman were two of the biggest and most sought-after stars in Bollywood during the ’70s and ’80s, they only appeared together in a few films. Among these, director Umesh Mehra’s Ashanti (1982) turned out to be a major hit. In addition to Azmi and Aman, the movie also starred Rajesh Khanna, Mithun Chakraborty, Parveen Babi, and Amrish Puri in key roles.
Recently, Zeenat Aman and Shabana Azmi reminisced about an incident that happened on the sets of Ashanti that made Azmi bawl. “We did a Lavani (a traditional Marathi folk dance). Shabana sat down and wept. She said, ‘I am not a dancer.’ She’s an actor with multiple National Awards to prove that. She cried,” Aman recalled.
“I told them to give me rehearsals. Now people do rehearsals for a whole month. But this was just right there, on the set. Also, PL Raj (choreographer) master was known for being very strict. So, I said, ‘You cannot scream or yell at me.’ Then he would smile but would want to beat me up because I wasn’t getting the steps. Yet, he would go on and on patiently. Meanwhile, Mithun Chakraborty, who was the dancer among us, was doing some rubbish with the dhol,” Azmi quipped.
“I used to get amused too because I am sure he was keeping his frustration down. He must have taken it all out on his kids after going home, whacking them,” Azmi added.
Azmi and Aman are currently working together on director Faraz Arif Ansari’s Bun Tikki. The film also stars Abhay Deol and Lin Laishram in key roles and is backed by renowned fashion designer Manish Malhotra.
