Last Updated: June 18, 2023, 17:58 IST
On Father’s Day, Zeenat Aman opens up on her father in an emotional post.
Zeenat Aman also shared that she felt that her father Amanullah Khan never got his dues as a writer.
On Father’s Day, veteran actress Zeenat Aman took a trip down memory lane to share a happy childhood photo with her dad. She also penned a long note revisiting her fondest moments with him and shared fun anecdotes. In the same note, she also mentioned how she felt that her dad never ‘got his dues’ as a writer.
On Instagram, Zeenat shared the black and white photo and described when the photo was taken, “This precious image was taken at a photo studio when I was a child. My father is sitting behind me, and another relative is in front. My father Amanullah Khan came from royal stock. His mother Akhtar Jahan Begum was first cousins with the last ruler of the state of Bhopal, His Highness Nawab Hamidullah Khan.”
She further added,”Aman Sahab, as he was known, was one of eight siblings, and they led a leisurely life in Bhopal. As he grew up he was considered extremely handsome. So he and his cousin Al Nasir came to Mumbai to see if they could find fame and fortune in Hindi cinema.”
She share how her parents met for the first time, got married and then separated. “He met my mother Vardhini Scindia socially at a party in the city. They had a whirlwind courtship and got married soon after. Unsurprisingly, neither family approved. She was a practicing Hindu and he came from a strong Muslim family”. She added, “On the homefront, my parents decided to separate a few years after I was born. I stayed with my mother, and my father moved into a sprawling bungalow on Mount Mary Hill in Bandra. I remember going for long walks with him during which he would treat me to ice cream. He would tell me stories and would recite Urdu poems, some of which he made up especially for me. He would also write beautiful letters in English to my mother and I.”
Zeenat then revealed how her dad, after having a brief acting career, went on to become a writer. “After a brief acting career, Aman Sahab went on to become a writer. Amongst other projects, he most famously worked on the screenplay and dialogues for Mughal-E-Azam and also Pakeezah. Though he was enormously talented and respected as a writer, I don’t feel he ever got his just dues. I suppose writers rarely do.”
On a closing note, she revealed why she chose to take her father’s name as her surname. “These are my few memories of my father. He passed away at the early age of 41, when I was still in school. I wish I had had the chance to spend more time with him. To know him not just through the lens of a child, but as a teenager and adult. Amongst the few possessions I hold close to my heart, is a volume of Urdu poetry that he wrote. I hope to have this translated and published some day. One never gets too old to miss their parents. On Father’s Day, I am thinking of my father Amanullah Khan, whose name I chose to make my own.”
