Directed by Shammi Kapoor, Manoranjan was a hit film in 1974 starring Sanjeev Kumar, Zeenat Aman and Shammi Kapoor. Recently, Zeenat Aman dug deep into her archive to share pictures from the movie and shared anecdotes from the time in Bollywood when she played the role of a 'sex worker with a sense of dignity, independence and humour'. She wrote, ''If I’ve had a steady companion through my career, it’s been the moral police.
And, my goodness, did they have a field day with this one!''. She described her experience of filming of Manoranjan as a 'haste-haste, khelte-khelte' and continued, ''It was Shammi Kapoor’s directorial debut, had RD Burman in the role of music director, and Sanjeev Kumar as the leading man. The producer FC Mehra was a family friend.
We shot the film entirely in studios in Mumbai, and it released in 1974.'' She continued, ''Nisha was no damsel in distress! Her outfits were flirtatious and sexy, but more importantly, she was unapologetic about how she earns a living. This was a character that I could have fun with: sexually liberated, financially independent, and fully capable of locking horns with, and turning down, any man.
'' The veteran actress confessed that Shammi Kapoor brought out one of her best performances in the movie. Sharing an anecdote from the filming, she wrote, ''dulhan maike chali’ is pictured entirely in a police van full of sex workers being taken to the police station and was sung by all three Mangeshkar sisters!''. ALSO SEE: Ze.
