New Delhi: Veteran actor Zeenat Aman’s Instagram account is quite popular because of the stories and anecdotes she shares from the past. On Friday, the actor posted about the time when Norway’s Postal Department dedicated a special stamp with her photo in order to honour her.
In one of the pics, posted by Zeenat, she is seen holding a giant replica of the stamp with her photo on it. She wrote, “In 2016, while attending a film festival in Oslo, I received a wonderful surprise on stage. I was being felicitated for my contribution to Indian cinema, when Norway’s Postal Department issued a special stamp in my honour. I was also presented with a giant replica of it and 60 stamps for my own use.”
To check whether the stamp would work, she sent postcards with ‘Zeenat Aman’ stamps to her friends.
“I was thrilled by this novel gesture of appreciation, but wasn’t sure whether the stamps would actually work. So the very next morning, I bought a ream of postcards, wrote out messages to my friends, slapped a ‘Zeenat Aman’ stamp onto each, crossed my fingers, and dropped the cards into a postbox.”
She continued, “Some weeks later, when I was back in Bombay, I began to receive texts and calls from my friends. All of whom were exclaiming with delight, having received my postcards in the mail!”
“I suppose a limited number of these stamps were released and that they are out of print now. I’ve kept my few remaining sheets carefully though, since I really did feel honoured by this gesture,” she concluded.
Zeenat started her career with modelling and entered the Femina Miss India pageant in 1970 and came second. She then competed - and won - in the Miss Asia Pacific International pageant, becoming the first Femina Miss India titleholder to win the pageant.
Her role in ‘Hare Ram, Hare Krishna’ brought her into the limelight, while ‘Yaadon Ki Baraat’ (1973) further cemented her position. She continued to rule through the 1970s and 1980s, often paired with reigning stars like Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabha Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor. In the latter part of 1970s, she was also the highest or second-highest paid Bollywood actress, along with Hema Malini.