Mumtaz did the wisest thing by refusing to play Dev Anand’s sister in Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Zeenat Aman who grabbed the meaty part paid a price for her enterprising spirit.
She was never accepted as Dev’s romantic heroine, although the actor-director tried hard to pair himself with her in permutations that were meant to gradually shake off Zeenat’s sisterly association with her mentor.
Dev once told me, “I knew audiences would find it hard to accept me and Zeenat as lovers after we played siblings in Hare Rama Hare Krishna. So in our next film together Heera Panna I cast Zeenat as the younger sister of the woman I loved(Raakhee Gulzar).”
It didn’t work. Heera Panna was rejected in spite of its excellent music by R. D Burman , as was every subsequent film where Dev tried to pair himself with Zeenat. Prem Shastra(where again, Dev was not romantically paired with Zeenat) , Ishk Ishk Ishk , Kaalaabaz, Darling Darling were all flops.
The only hit film of Dev-Zeenat as a romantic pair was Warrant in 1975.Their last film together was Darling Darling in 1977 after which Zeenat moved on to Raj Kapoor and Sanjay Khan.
