Veteran Bollywood actress Zeenat Aman, known for her timeless beauty and bold roles, recently took to Instagram to share an intriguing story from the sets of Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971).
Posting a picture of herself from the film’s iconic song “Dum Maro Dum,” she gave fans a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes moments that made the sequence so memorable.
She recalled, "We were in Kathmandu shooting Hare Rama Hare Krishna, and Dev Saab had rounded up a gaggle of hippies from the streets to be featured in the song. Which song? The picture is a dead giveaway - Dum Maro Dum of course!"
She shared how the hippie extras were thrilled not only to participate in a Bollywood film but also to enjoy free food, hashish, and get paid for it!
Zeenat wrote, "The hippy extras were delighted with their good fortune. They were not only getting to pack their chillums with hashish in beautiful Nepal, they were also getting free food, going to feature in a Bollywood movie and were being paid to boot!, Now Dev Saab wanted authenticity in this sequence. My character, the drug addled Janice, had to really look stoned. And the easiest way to achieve this was to partake in the hippy offerings! So there I was, still in my teens, gamely taking long pulls from their chillum for take after take."
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Unable to return to her hotel in that hazy state, writing "By the time we wrapped the day’s work I was high as a kite! I was in no state to return to the hotel in that happy, dizzy and slightly gormless haze. So some of the team members packed me into a car and took me on a drive to a beautiful vantage point. There in the cold mountain air, I contemplated the Himalayas and slowly, peacefully came down from my high."
Reflecting on the incident, Zeenat Aman mentioned how her mother was furious when she later found out, "I later found out that my mother was furious when she learnt what happened, and gave the senior crew members a sharp tongue lashing for allowing her precious child to “do drugs”! Luckily, I was spared her wrath."
Aman concluded her post with a nostalgic nod to the 70s, "Well, what can I say, it was the 70s, and I was something of a flower child."
She also announced an exciting upcoming musical extravaganza "This October, I will be in Mumbai, Delhi and Jaipur sharing many such anecdotes, and grooving to the most memorable numbers from my films, all performed by a live band. This is a musical extravaganza especially created for “my generation” of fans! Don’t forget to book tickets for your parents, aunts, uncles and anyone else who grew up dancing to my songs. Yeh Shaam Mastani"
For fans of the golden era of Bollywood, it’s an event not to be missed!
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