When Parveen was not comfortable with the songs on screen: “If Zeenat can do it…” | Bollywood

Before entering films, Parveen Babi dabbled in modeling for a year in 1972. She soon emerged as the female lead with the film Charitra (1973) in which cricketer Salim Durrani also made his debut. Although the film did not do well, it launched Parveen’s career. She began appearing in more films, including Majboor (1974) and Deewaar (1975), which became her mainstream breakthrough. For the 69th anniversary of her birth on April 4, a look back at the time when the actress was not sure about singing and dancing for the big screen. Later, when she saw another colleague, Zeenat Aman performing in songs, it made her feel that she could do it too. Read also: Kabir Bedi on relationship with Parveen Babi: ‘He cared about her deeply but couldn’t prevent her downfall’

While her initial films failed at the box office, critics believed that the actress showed promise, even if she wore none of the flattering costumes. During the mid-70s to early 1980s, Parveen and Zeenat became some of the most elegantly dressed actresses on screen. Eventually, as her star rose, she realized that she needed to do little on screen to become popular, especially when appearing opposite her male co-stars who were getting better parts. He felt he made a lot of money doing little work.

The actress was known for being quite candid in her interviews and had mentioned that she was embarrassed to sing and dance around trees. In the Parveen Babi biography by Karishma Upadhyay, it was revealed that Parveen felt better about lip-syncing and dancing to songs only after seeing Zeenat do the same. In a 1976 interview with Stardust magazine, she had told herself: “If Zeenat can do it, so can I.” They went on to work together in the films Ashanti (1982) and Ameer Aadmi Ghareeb Aadmi (1985).

In the same year, she also became the first female Bollywood actress to grace the cover of Time’s July issue. The cover made history and the actress was only 27 years old when she appeared on it. Some of her notable films are Kaala Patthar (1979), Do Aur Do Paanch (1980), Shaan (1980), Kranti (1981), Kaalia (1981), Namak Halaal (1982), Khud-Daar (1982), Razia Sultan (1983) and Karm Yudh (1985). Her last film was Iraada (1991). He died on January 20, 2005. He was only 50.