Zeenat Aman and Neetu Kapoor, two of Bollywood’s star thespians, appeared on Koffee With Karan Season 8 Episode 12 and wowed us with their smarts and elegance. Show host Karan Johar called Zeenat, 72, a trailblazer and Neetu, 65, “the breakout star” of her time. Here’s why this episode of the Disney+Hotstar chat show featuring the Yaadon Ki Baaraat co-stars is worth a watch.

Mutual admiration

“Style and sexiness ki dukan” is how Neetu Kapoor described Zeenat Aman, remembering how she and some of her peers felt threatened by Zeenat’s “great body” as the rest of them were primarily “chubby”.

Back in the day, actresses used to work on multiple film shifts simultaneously and shuttle between sets. Zeenat said she maintained herself by walking a lot, but Neetu said she once peeped into Zeenat’s lunchbox while shooting Dharam Veer and found that it only had yoghurt and some stir-fried cabbage. Zeenat praised Neetu for being a good dancer and for her vivacious energy.

Neetu Kapoor remembers hubby Rishi Kapoor

Reminiscing about the period when her late husband, actor Rishi Kapoor, was undergoing treatment for cancer in New York, Neetu said it was “the best year of my life” despite the heavy air of sadness. “He was a loving person but he never showed it. He lost out on love for his children. He was never a friend to them. He opened up,” said a choked Neetu. On the days he felt better, Neetu and Rishi would go out for lunch, movies and shopping.

Zeenat Aman’s tryst with Instagram

On her newfound social media popularity via Instagram, Zeenat said she got into it for her children who had been pestering her for a while. She followed the cue and went on to express her thoughts and share snippets and anecdotes from her past as an actress. “If it is used correctly, it can be a space that enables people to have a voice and express,” said Zeenat about Instagram.

Zeenat rubbishes rivalry with Parveen Babi, Neetu mimics Hema Malini

Zeenat rubbished the rumours about her rivalry with late actress Parveen Babi. “There was no rivalry. I have great sadness for what had happened to her,” said the Hara Rama Hare Krishna actress.

Neetu talked about her bond with co-star Rekha, whom she found “very warm, friendly and funny”. Karan pointed out Neetu’s friendship with the paparazzi, which is in sharp contrast to Jaya Bachchan’s who is frequently spotted scolding them. “I feel Jayaji does it on purpose. She is not like that. They are in cahoots,” laughed Neetu, who also did a fun mimicry of Zeenat and Hema Malini — who is “open, frank, pure and unaffected” — all in good humour.

Isn’t this sass what was missing in Koffee With Karan for the past few seasons?

Being raised by strict moms and choosing motherhood

Neetu, who started out as a child actor, had worked in 70-80 films before marrying co-actor and boyfriend Rishi Kapoor in her twenties. The Rafoo Chakkar actress said she had never seen the wild side of partying as she was always under the surveillance of first a strict mother and then a “strict boyfriend”.

After a point, working in films became like a job. She felt she had had enough working for so many years, and switched to running the house and raising her children. “My husband was possessive and he wanted me to be around him,” added Neetu, who remembers the Kapoor family’s Chembur parties as “legendary”.

Zeenat shared she too had a strict mother who never allowed her to party and put her on a diet for seven-eight years. “But when the floodgates burst, they did,” quipped Zeenat, ducking host Karan’s query about the men in her life with “no comments”. Like Neetu, Zeenat too said she didn’t miss work after moving on: “I was ready to go to the next chapter of my life – motherhood.”

Zeenat on how she landed Raj Kapoor’s Satyam Shivam Sundaram

While working on Vakil Babu, director Raj Kapoor had discussed his plans for Satyam Shivam Sundaram with Zeenat, which piqued her interest though she knew that she had no chance of landing the lead female role, Rupa, given the audience’s perception of her. So, one day Zeenat got dressed up in her version of Rupa and met Raj Kapoor, who was “gobsmacked”. Later, Raj Kapoor’s wife, Krishna, came to Zeenat with a few gold guinea as her signing amount.

Rapid fire round

In the rapid fire round, Neetu picked Rishi Kapoor as her closest industry friend. She admitted to having a crush on Shashi Kapoor, who later became her uncle-in-law through marriage. Neetu chose Deepika Padukone as her stylist, given her personal style, Anushka Sharma as her fitness coach and Farah Khan as her social media coach.

Zeenat picked Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor as actors with whom she had the best screen chemistry, and thought Shatrughan Sinha’s tough exterior made him the most misunderstood person in the industry. She felt Priyanka Chopra would do justice if a biopic was made on her life. And if Satyam Shivam Sundaram 2 is ever made, Deepika Padukone should play Rupa.

Zeenat also revealed that she had once received a box within a box with a tennis ball in it and the note, ‘The ball is in your court’. Cajoled by Karan, Zeenat blurted out that the sender was someone from the Kapoor family. Karan quizzed if it was Rishi Kapoor, which Zeenat denied vehemently, leaving Neetu flummoxed.