At 72, Zeenat Aman remains an icon, radiating the same effervescent charm that enthralled audiences when she stepped into the industry with Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1970). With a career spanning five decades, the veteran actress has embraced the digital revolution and aced the Instagram game. In a rare conversation, Zeenat Aman reflects on her remarkable journey and the road ahead.

The actress often shares anecdotes from her past experiences – personal and professional – on social media. On Saturday evening, at the musical spectacle Yeh Shaam Mastani in the city, which also featured some of her most beloved songs, the actress shared fond memories in front of a live audience. In a conversation with us, she said, “I’ve travelled the world with all the greatest musical talent. But I was always a small part of a very large show.”

Zeenat further added, “When I was approached by Sa Re Ga Ma, to be the headliner of this show, where my songs and stories would be played, I was elated. I was taken aback when I realized the body of work that I have. You tend to live on a day-to-day basis, and don’t reflect on these things. It was quite startling. It was wonderful to be physically present in a theatre and connect with people who resonate with the work that you have done, who have grown up with your songs & your music.”

Last February, the yesteryear actress took the Instagram world by storm and won hearts with insightful stories that revealed her sharp wit and thoughtful perspective. “Initially, I was overwhelmed. I had no words. I knew nothing about Instagram. My son Zahaan (Khan) kept pushing me to write my thoughts and discuss stories. I was finding it quite difficult. He told me, ‘Don’t worry, we will do it together’. I would say it’s very conceptual. I feel grateful to receive the love that I do from the people who are reading my posts. It makes me feel extremely responsible about what I put out there.”

Ask her about her posts, which could easily be chapters in her memoir, and she says, “I am an English literature student. I love to write. But I do have to say that every post of mine involves three of us (Zahaan, Cara Piranha and me). The three of us have to give a thumbs-up before anything is posted. It is teamwork.”

Has there been an occasion when she was asked to not post something by her Insta cops? “Yes, there has been an occasion when something has come up, something has been written, and then we read it, and we decided against posting it as we felt it would create too much of a controversy,” she reveals.

Zeenat will soon be seen in the OTT series The Royals, where she plays Ishaan Khatter’s nani and the film Bun Tikki alongside Shabana Azmi and Abhay Deol. Ask the actress, who has been a part of over 80 films in her career, what kind of projects she wishes to do now, and she replies, “I just want to have fun. You will see that in every project that I am working on, I’m just having fun. I am meeting a lot of young, talented people and interacting with them. Young people are so nice to work with. I do what brings joy to my life. What else is there? I say no to a lot of work because I want to choose only what I think I will enjoy doing, and I want to work with people that I resonate with.”

Zeenat’s journey is a testament to her resilience and her ability to evolve with the times. During the conversation, she cites American literary luminary Maya Angelou’s quote, ‘I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.’

She explained, “Sometimes things are so bad that you just want to give up and say, no, I cannot do this. But then, did you realize that life has so much to offer? There’s so much joy and you never know what’s around the corner for you. How you deal with your downs matters more than how you deal with your ups. How you react to a situation is what makes a difference to you.”

After witnessing success in Mumbai, Zeenat’s show Yeh Shaam Mastani would head to Delhi and Jaipur.