Zeenat Aman shares smoking pic with disclaimer; praises Dimple Kapadia: 'During difficult time she publicly stood by me'

Zeenat Aman, known for her nostalgic Instagram posts, on Tuesday shared a rare photo of herself with Dimple Kapadia. The veteran actor smoked a cigarette in the black-and-white photo as Dimple and filmmaker Joy Mukherjee looked on. In her long caption alongside the throwback, Zeenat not only gushed about Dimple, but also asked fans not to 'be influenced by her smoking in the image'. Also read: Zeenat Aman on love and lust and who she is dating these days

Zeenat Aman's latest Instagram post

The actor began by writing, “I can’t recollect where this picture was taken, but it quite certainly had something to do with the film Chhailla Babu. Perhaps it’s a BTS shot from set. I say this because while the chairs scream 'production', I’m in my own clothes not a costume. With me are the director of the film Joy Mukherjee and the effervescent Dimple Kapadia, who must have been visiting set as she was married to the lead actor (Rajesh Khanna).”

Zeenat Aman recalls Dimple Kapadia 'stood' by her

Zeenat then went to write about how both Dimple and her 'got big career breaks thanks to Raj Kapoor'. "She as a teenager, when she was cast in and as Bobby. Whereas I was able to deliver a blow to my 'western image' thanks to SSS (Satyam Shivam Sundaram)," Zeenat wrote.

The actor continued to write, "This isn’t a post about Dimple’s talent though she has that in spades, it’s about the little I saw of her character. During a very difficult phase in my life she was one of a mere handful of people who publicly stood by me. This despite the criticism and scrutiny of her own life that the decision invited! In those trying times she revealed to me a strength of character that I admire to date. I don’t believe she is on Instagram, but perhaps @twinklerkhanna will pass on my love to her. Truly, a wave of appreciation washed over me when I found this picture some days ago."

Zeenat on her smoking pic

The actor also had a message for her fans, "On another note, please don’t be influenced by my smoking in this image! I’ll admit I enjoyed a few cigarettes a day between my late teens and early 30s, but that all went out of the window the minute I became pregnant with my first born!"

Following her troubled marriage to actor Mazhar Khan in 1985, Zeenat Aman began appearing less frequently in films. They remained married until his death in 1998. With Mazhar, she had two sons – Azaan Khan and Zahaan Khan.