Happy Birthday, Mumtaz: When The Actress Refused To Play Dev Anand’s On-screen Sister

The history of Hindi cinema is rich and extensive, spanning more than 100 years. Many interesting stories can be heard from the bygone era of Bollywood. In the span of 100 years in the film industry, many artists have come and gone. Some found instant success, while others had to toil day and night to achieve success. One such actress is Mumtaz, who faced rejections from famous actors, but she never gave up. She transitioned from being a junior artist to a supporting lead and eventually started doing lead roles. Today, Mumtaz celebrates her 77th birthday. Do you know, 53 years ago, her role in the film Hare Rama Hare Krishna was snatched away by Dev Anand’s on screen sister?

Veteran actress Mumtaz was a fan favourite back in the day. Among many well-known films that she did in the 1960s and 1970s, one of them was Tere Mere Sapne where she starred alongside Dev Anand for the first time. Dev Anand was then preparing to make his 1971 film hit, Hare Rama Hare Krishna. He offered Mumtaz a prominent role in the film, but she refused. Mumtaz in an interview shared that after her film Tere mere Sapne, Dev offered the role of Janice in Hare Rama Hare Krishna. The film was based on the relationship between brother and sister.

Mumtaz shared that since the audience liked both Dev and her performance in Tere mere Sapne, she felt that seeing her playing the role of Dev’s sister, the audience might not like it. She thus chose the role of Shanti, which she wanted to play in the film. The role of Janice, which was the leading part, was played by Zeenat Aman.

Mumtaz had no objection to this, because she knew that Zeenat Aman was new in the industry and Mumtaz was a top actress back then, she never objected to her getting this role in the film. The film became a hit; Zeenat Aman was benefited the most while Mumtaz unfortunately seemed to fade into the background.

People loved Zeenat Aman and Dev Anand’s chemistry in the film and after this, producers-directors signed Dev Anand and Zeenat Aman for numerous films. With this one film, Zeenat Aman snatched away Mumtaz’s stardom overnight.