Mumtaz Recalls Wearing Bikini In Apradh After Feroz Khan Convinced Her: 'Had A Complex About My Heavy...'

While it has become quite mainstream to see an actress don a bikini in a film, this was not always the case. Back in the yesteryear, when actresses like Zeenat Aman, Sharmila Tagore and Dimple Kapadia wore bikinis on screen, it was looked at as an act of defying societal norms. One such top actress was also Mumtaz, who wore a bikini in the 1972 film, Apradh. She recently recalled that she only wore the outfit after Feroz Khan convinced her to trust his vision.

“I was one of the top heroines… I could afford to say, ‘Mujhe nahin pehena hai bikini (I could afford to say no, I don’t want to wear a bikini).’ I didn’t want to wear a bikini, but I said yes only because of Feroz Khan. He promised me that he would edit out the scene if I didn’t like it,” the veteran actress told Zoom.

“I wore a bikini for Feroz Khan. I didn’t have confidence but he had confidence in me. I had a complex about my typical heavy Iranian thighs. He promised me, ‘Agar tujhe accha nahin laga toh main hata doonga‘ (I will delete the scene if you disapprove of it). I knew I could trust him. If he promised me that he would cut the scene if I disapproved of it, I was sure he would not betray me. When I saw the scene, I felt that I was looking very nice. Later, I was approached by many producers with roles that demanded that I don the outfit, but I said no. Never wore a bikini after that,” she said.

Mumtaz has often spoken about how Bollywood has become more progressive today, especially for women. “Everything has changed so much. Today’s heroines are so bold. We never used to wear such revealing clothes. Doesn’t a woman look glamorous even in a saree if it is worn a bit low?” she was quoted as saying in an interview published in SpotBoyE.

Recently, Mumtaz has been in the news for criticising her fellow actress Zeenat Aman for the latter’s pro stance on live-in relationships before marriage. Mumtaz had said in an interview with Zoom, “Zeenat should be careful with what she is advising. She has all of a sudden come into this huge social media popularity, and I can understand her excitement about sounding like a cool aunty. But giving advice that is counter to our moral values is not the solution to increasing your following.”