Zeenat Aman shared this image. (courtesy: zeenataman)

New Delhi:

Zeenat Aman’s Instagram post, which was merely meant to be a piece of advice on live-in relationships, has now snowballed into a controversy. In an Instagram post that Zeenat Aman shared a few days ago, she encouraged exploring the option of live-in relationship for the better understanding of one’s partner. The post prompted a reaction from Zeenat Aman’s Hare Rama Hare Krishna co-star Mumtaz, who in an interview with Zoom said that Zeenat Aman should refrain from giving relationship advice. “Her marriage was a living hell,” Mumtaz said in the interview. Now, Zeenat Aman has responded to the statement. “Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I’ve never been one to comment on others personal lives or tear down my colleagues, and I’m not going to start now,” Hindustan Times quoted Zeenat Aman as saying.

On April 10, Zeenat Aman shared her take on live-in relationships in an Instagram post. “One of you asked me about relationship advice in the comments section of my last post. Here’s a personal opinion I haven’t previously shared – if you’re in a relationship, I strongly recommend that you live together before getting married! This is the same advice I’ve always given my sons, both of whom have had, or are in, a live-in relationship. It just seems logical to me that before two people get their families and the government involved in their equation, they first put their relationship to the ultimate test,” Zeenat Aman wrote.

The veteran actress also addressed the society’s reservations about live-in relationships and she added, “I’m aware that Indian society is a little uptight about “living in sin” but then again, society is uptight about so many things! Log kya kahenge?

Read Zeenat Aman’s post here:

Earlier this week, Mumtaz said this about Zeenat Aman 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. Aap Zeenat ko hi le lo misaal ke taur par (Take Zeenat for example)… She knew Mazhar Khan for years before marrying him. Her marriage was a living hell. She should be the last person doling out advice on relationships.”

Now, film veteran Saira Banu has also contributed to the ongoing rift. In an interaction with Hindustan Times, Saira Banu said, “I am not reading much and I don’t really follow what they (Mumtaz and Zeenat Aman) are saying, but we are very old-fashioned people. Our trend is 40-50 saal pehle ka. Iss baat se main toh sehmat nahi ho sakti hu kabhi bhi. I would never advocate live-in relationships like that. It’s something unimaginable and unacceptable for me.”