Zeenat Aman recalls she got pregnant early on during ‘Daku Hasina’ shoot; ended filming in third trimester

Mumbai: Veteran actress and diva Zeenat Aman has shared an anecdote about working on the 1987 film 'Daku Hasina', directed by Ashok Rao.

The actress said that this was one of the last films she did before taking a hiatus due to her pregnancy early on during the shoot.

Zeenat took to Instagram and shared a black-and-white picture of herself holding a rifle and dressed as a dacoit for the film.

The actress also posted two posters of 'Daku Hasina'.

“Daku Hasina was your classic story of vengeance. Roopa, orphaned when her parents are killed by powerful village overlords, seeks the help of infamous dacoit Mangal Singh (The iconic Rajinikanth in one of his few Bollywood cameos) to extract revenge,” she wrote.

The diva added: “Under his guidance, she transforms into the ruthless Daku Hasina, and so begins her reign of terror. The police scramble to apprehend her, but ah! There is a twist in the tale. What is the relationship between SP Ranjit Saxena (played by none other than @rakesh_roshan9) and the lady dacoit?”

Sharing an interesting anecdote, Zeenat penned: “This was one of the last films I did before my extended hiatus. I became pregnant early on in the shoot, and by the end of filming, I was well into my third trimester!”

The 72-year-old star said that to hide her baby bump, the crew came up with “creative shots.”

“My svelte figure had naturally ballooned, so to hide my belly, the crew came up with various creative shots. Some of these involved me riding a horse, which brought its own concerns."

The actress also suffered a scare while shooting for the film, which stars Rakesh Roshan and Rajinikanth in an extended cameo.

I had had a scare on horseback during a previous shoot when the poor animal had bolted because of the artificial rain and blaring speakers on set,” she wrote.

Zeenat shared that she “wasn't nervous about my own safety, but the safety of the child in my womb was of utmost importance.”

“Luckily, we were able to shoot these scenes without any incident. One's memory is such a slippery thing. While looking up clips from the film, I found that Mazhar, the father of my children, also had a special appearance in it,” she shared.

Zeenat shared that the father of her children was in the qawwali number, which she had cleanly forgotten.

“‘Daku Hasina’ was released in 1987, and it was quite true to the mood of the time. A feminist storm was sweeping through India in the '80s. Legal reforms and social awareness on gender were the talk of the town, thanks to the exceptional women activists of the time,” she said.

Reflecting on the film's performance, Zeenat admitted that it did not do well but felt good to play such a role.

“There was a certain air of liberation, not to mention indignation at the horrors of the patriarchy, and it felt oh so good to play an a**-kicking role! I don't think the film did very well, but these posters are such vintage gems that I just had to share them with you,” she concluded.

“I wish I could find more stills from it - because my look was just so cool - but alas there seem to be very few out there.”