Zeenat Aman On Meaningful Relationships: "My Public Persona Has Always Overshadowed My True Self"

Zeenat Aman often shares special anecdotes from her life on her Instagram timeline. From throwback pics to personal experiences, her detailed captions never fail to entertain us. On Monday, the veteran actress opened up about how her public personality did not allow her to forge “meaningful relationships”. She began the post by saying, “This Monday, a meditation on meaningful relationships. I have not had too many. I didn't dwell on it when I was younger, but now I have been giving it some thought. There is a saying - it's lonely at the top. Well, it's lonely at the bottom too. I have experienced both.”

Zeenat Aman added, “In my own private examination of my life, I have realised a crude truth. Meaningful relationships have been difficult to come by because my public persona has always overshadowed my true self. The idea that people have of me has been something of a prison, even while it has been a privilege. With men, their intent was almost always obvious, which was flattering but ultimately shallow. And with women, the nature of society, especially back in those days, forced comparisons that led to envy in one too many cases.”

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In her opinion, meaningful relationships meant “reciprocity”. With that thought in mind, the Heera Panna actress said, “What is the measure of a meaningful relationship then? For me it is when there is reciprocity - in celebrating each other's successes, enduring the bad times together, being able to speak and receive home truths, and above all, reaching a point where your outward masks (and don't we all have them?) can be removed.”

Zeenat Aman signed off by saying, “Sadly, I have had limited success in this arena. The silver lining is that it has made me cherish those meaningful relationships I do have all the more. Perhaps I have bored you with this pontification, but it is followed by this one earnest wish - that each of you finds meaningful relationships, romantic or otherwise, to add brilliance to your lives.”

Workwise, Zeenat Aman will next be seen in the Netflix web series The Royals. She is also a part of director Faraz Arif Ansari's Bun Tikki. In the film, Zeenat Aman will be sharing screen space with Shabana Azmi. They previously worked together in the 1982 film Ashanti. Abhay Deol also plays a key role in the project.