Zeenat Aman recalls how Feroz Khan abused her on phone after she refused Dharmatma: ‘Bahut ulta-sulta suna diya, I didn't speak to him for a long time'

Indian Express

09-07-2025

After making her debut in 1970, Zeenat Aman went on to become the highest paid actress of her time. With films like Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Roti Kapda Aur Makaan and Dharam Veer, she had become the style icon and regarded as someone who changed the way industry looked at heroines. Being among the leading stars, Zeenat Aman once refused to take up a secondary role in Feroz Khan's 1975 film Dharmatma. This caused tension between the two with Feroz even abusing her over the phone.
In an old interview with Shemaroo Lifestyle, Zeenat Aman recalled bagging the lead role in Qurbani (1980) after having a fight with its director over Dharmatma. She shared, 'Feroz Khan had offered me a secondary role in Dharmatma. I refused the offer. Feroz was mad at me for this. Baad mein phone pe unhone mujhe kuch ulat sulat keh diya (Later, he even abused me over a phone call). This made me upset. We didn't talk for a very long time.'
However, the fight didn't stop Feroz Khan from approaching her for his another project, Qurbani. She shared, 'But, when he was making Qurbani, he called me again. He said, 'This time, it is not a secondary role, Zeenat Aman.''
In the same interview, Zeenat Aman shared that it was after Qurbani that he started to address her as Choti Begum. Zeenat Aman was briefly married to Feroz Khan's brother Sanjay Khan, who allegedly physically assaulted her. This resulted in divorce within a year of their marriage.
Previously, recalling her experience shooting Qurbani, Zeenat Aman had shared how Feroz once docked her payment for arriving late on set. In an Instagram post in 2024, Zeenat shared, 'Feroz and I had a rocky start. It was the 70s, my star was on the rise, and he called me on the telephone to offer me a role in his upcoming production. It was a secondary part, and so I politely refused the offer. Feroz was incensed and let out a stream of expletives while I held the receiver away from my ear!'
She added, 'Many months later, he called again. This time he started his pitch by saying – 'it's the lead role so don't reject it'. And that's how I joined the cast of Qurbani.'
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'I often discuss set etiquette in my captions, so I'd be amiss to neglect Feroz's influence on me in this regard. I was quite a diligent worker, but on one occasion my youth got the better of me. Though we had an early call time the next day, I agreed to go out to a party. It was a fantastic night of dance and drink, and unsurprisingly I landed up one hour late to set. Feroz was glowering behind his camera, and before I could offer him my meagre excuse, he cut me down to size. 'Begum, you're late and you're going to pay for the delay.' No argument, no scolding, but you can be sure that he docked my pay to pay the crew for that one hour delay,' shared the actress.
Qurbani, just like Dharmatma, became one of the biggest hits of Bollywood. It also made headlines for being one of the most expensive films with a budget of Rs 1.55 crore. Qurbani was supposed to star Amitabh Bachchan, but due to scheduling conflicts, the role went to actor Vinod Khanna.