Zeenat Aman says parents divorced when she was 2, had no plans for Bollywood despite her Mughal-e-Azam connect
3 min readNew DelhiJul 1, 2026 04:26 PM IST Long before she became one of Hindi cinema’s biggest stars and a defining style icon of the 1970s, Zeenat Aman had an entirely different future in mind. An avid reader with academic ambitions, she never dreamed of becoming an actor. In fact, despite being the daughter of Mughal-e-Azam writer Amanullah Khan, Zeenat says she grew up with almost no exposure to Hindi cinema. Instead, her plan was to pursue higher studies and possibly build a life outside India. But a chance entry into modelling led to beauty pageants, which eventually opened the doors to films—leaving her graduation unfinished and changing the course of her life forever. Speaking to Shubra Aiyappa, Zeenat reflected on how her father’s illustrious film career had little influence on her childhood. “It is true that my father was a prolific writer and exceptional in the work that he did in films. However, I didn’t live with my father. My parents separated when I was two, and I was brought up by my …
