Actresses like Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone and Sara Ali Khan are seen wearing bikinis with confidence both on-screen and off-screen today. But, in the ’70s, wearing beachwear was considered “adventurous and unconventional.”
However, older actors like Sharmila Tagore, Parveen Babi, Zeenat Aman and Dimple Kapadia challenged social norms by playing them on screen. Among the actors who broke the tradition and wore a two-piece bikini in a film was Mumtaz, who wore the outfit in Feroz Khan’s 1972 film, Crime.
In a recent interview, Mumtaz revealed that she had reservations about wearing it and almost withdrew from the scene due to self-consciousness about her “heavy Iranian thighs”. But after seeing the final cut, she surprised herself by being confident about her look.
“I was one of the top heroines… I could say, ‘I don’t want to wear a bikini. (I could afford to say no).’ I didn’t want to wear a bikini, but I said yes only because of Firoz Khan. He promised me that if I didn’t like the scene he would edit it,” the Do Rasta actor told Zoom.
The actor further revealed that Khan not only made her comfortable but also made her believe that she could look glamorous as the scene was important for the film. Mumtaz, who previously wore a swimming costume in Roop Tera Mastana, said, “I wore a bikini for Feroz Khan.
I didn’t trust him, but he had trust in me. I had a dilemma about my typical heavy Iranian thighs. He promised me, ‘If you reject it I will delete the scene. I knew I could trust him. If he promised me that he would cut the scene if I rejected it, I was sure that he would not betray me. When I saw that scene I felt that I was looking very good. Later, many producers approached me for roles and demanded that I wear that costume, but I refused. Never wore a bikini after that.”
The Roti actor has often talked about Bollywood becoming a progressive place, even though wearing a swimsuit is not considered a big deal for contemporary actors today. “Everything has changed a lot.
Nowadays, heroines are quite bold. We had never worn such flashy clothes. Doesn’t a woman look glamorous in a saree even if it is a little worn?” .
