It is difficult to introduce a persona as commendable as Shabana Azmi. Like a planning document, I can think of giving it three, four and five areas of in-depth discussion but the native lover of her actor persona will not let me do so. Yet, I will give it a shot. We know she's been Member of Parliament, UNFPA goodwill ambassador for India and more adages to that. She's also unprecedented winner of five National Awards and other international awards, winner of Rajiv Gandhi award for social activism, recipient of the Padma Shri, considered crusader of many injustices and causes as well.
Shabana Azmi is also an actor par excellence, an actor who brings feeling into the viewer. Consciously or unconsciously people have associated a host of representations for Azmi, some that she is the unparalleled face of Indian art cinema, some that she is the uninhibited voice of feminism and in all that bearing a commonness of passion, commitment and humility.
For a quick memorable biographic line up, Azmi Daughter of renowned Urdu Poet, Kaifi Azmi and famous stage actor Shaukat Kaifi. Here memorable and award-winning films include 'Ankur' in 1974, 'Arth' in 1983, 'Khandahar' in 1984 and "Paar" in 1985, 'God Mother ' in 1999, 'Libaas' in 1993, 'Patang' in 1994 and 'Fire' in 1996. She has had retrospectives of her films at the prestigious George Pompidou Center in Paris, the Norwegian Film Institute, the Smithsonian Institution and the American Film Institute in Washington, Pacific Cinemetheque and Winnipeg Cinematheque. She is the only Asian actor ever to be honored with a retrospective of her films at Lincoln Center at the 40th New York Film Festival. She has been Chairperson of the Jury at the Montreal and Cairo International Film Festivals. Shabana Azmi has won International acclaim in John Schlesinger's 'Madama Sousatza', Nicholas Klotz's 'The Bengali Night' and Roland Joffe's 'City of Joy.'
She is Visiting Professor at Michigan State University and recipient of Martin Luther King, Parks and Chavez Award. She was chosen by TIME Magazine as 1 of 25 Asian heroes and the only woman amongst 4 Indians who has made a difference. Shabana Azmi is married to Javed Akhtar, Urdu poet and the finest scriptwriter in Hindi Cinema.
Satyajit Ray, the noted filmmaker, says in his book, "Our Films Their Films", "Shabana Azmi in her very first film, "Ankur", firmly establishes herself as the finest dramatic actress of the country".
Azmi comes from a family, which believes art is used as an instrument of social change and in this regard, her films have been pioneering. Some of the topical issues that her films have dealt with include poverty, injustice, oppression, diverging gaps and impact of a socio-economic class, feminism, sexuality and power. This and the familiar runes of bollywood: love, time and relationships. Her performance and choice of films only indicate that she is part of the cinema community, which are contemporaneous expressions of society. Azmi's on-screen and off-screen reputes are famous for being intelligent, incisive, full of convictions and integrity.
A woman in touch with herself, a woman defying stereotypes gallantly, a woman who has spread her wings across and flying high...I insist Shabana Azmi delivers a feeling right in all her films, her half-moist eyes holding back a surge of tears, her cotton classics and oxidized jewellery or perfect rendition of Gulzar's classics...her uncommon repertoire have had lasting impressions.
Azmi comes from a family, which believes art is used as an instrument of social change and in this regard, her films have been pioneering. Some of the topical issues that her films have dealt with include poverty, injustice, oppression, diverging gaps and impact of a socio-economic class, feminism, sexuality and power. This and the familiar runes of bollywood: love, time and relationships. Her performance and choice of films only indicate that she is part of the cinema community, which are contemporaneous expressions of society. Azmi's on-screen and off-screen reputes are famous for being intelligent, incisive, full of convictions and integrity.
