Zeenat Aman on Vinod Khanna’s demise: Will remember him as a thorough gentleman

Yesteryear actor Zeenat Aman recalls the time spent with co-star Vinod Khanna, who died in Mumbai on Thursday.

More than anything else, I’ll always remember him as a thorough gentleman—cultured, polite and someone who knew how to conduct himself with ladies. With Vinod, things were always proper on the sets. He would come on time, say a polite hello, shoot and leave. There was never any question of unpleasantness. The first film we did together was Bombay 405 Miles (1980), which featured Vinod, Shatrughan Sinha and me. It was truckloads of fun to do because it was a fun subject. Tragically, Brij Sadanah, who directed us in the film died a gruesome death.

Actor Zeenat Aman remembers Vinod Khanna as a cultured and polite man.(Yogen Shah)

Actor Vinod Khanna died at the age of 70 after battling cancer for two years. (Vijayanand Gupta / HT Photo)

“Vinod and I then came together for the Feroz Khan blockbuster Qurbani (1980). Feroz was in charge and fully in control.We would come on the sets, do our work and go away. We shot the song Hum tumhein chahte hain aise by a lakeside. Though the song was a duet, it was filmed only as a solo number on Vinod Khanna. And I just had to react to his singing. It worked. Vinod was so good at conveying romantic thoughts. A truly handsome man, he would make ladies swoon.But he was not the least conscious or vain about his looks. He was always proper in his behaviour. You would never catch Vinod screaming or getting impatient on the sets. There was never any fireworks or excitement when we were shooting together. Vinod was always proper, always correct in his behaviour. A thorough gentleman. We didn’t meet in recent years. He had his life. I had mine. And now we shall never meet.

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