Published: 09:23 AM, 24 April 2026
Mumtaz says Zeenat Aman was ‘not a good actress’
Veteran actor Mumtaz recently shared her candid take on stardom in Bollywood, drawing a clear line between being a “star” and being a “good actor”. In an interview with Vickey Lalwani, she defended her remarks about Sanjeev Kumar not being a star and further stated that Zeenat Aman is “not a good actor”.
Mumtaz defended her remark that Sanjeev Kumar was not a star and said, “What did I say wrong? I’m not denying he was an excellent actor. There’s a world of difference between being a star and being an actor. Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, these were all stars. Sanjeev Kumar did character roles and even supporting roles. He was a very good human being, very well-mannered, but there is a difference between a star and an actor. You said he was a very big star, and I responded that he was not a very big star. He was a good actor, but I consider people like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and the top heroes as big stars.”
Mumtaz also spoke about how the term “star” is often used too loosely in the industry. Talking about Zeenat Aman, she added, “Zeenat Aman, okay. Zeenat Aman was not a very good actress, sorry to say, I would say sorry to her as well. How many awards did she get? If you call everyone a star, how will that work? Not everyone is a star. Not everyone can be a star; not everyone can be Dilip Kumar. It takes years to become a star, you lose your hair by the time you get there. Meena Kumari, Madhubala, Nargis, Rekha, these were the real stars among heroines.”
