Shabana Azmi

Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several genres. She has won a record five National Film Awards for Best Actress, in addition to five Filmfare Awards and several international honours among other accolades. In 1998, she was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour of the country, and in 2012, she was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour.

The daughter of poet Kaifi Azmi and stage actress Shaukat Azmi, she is an alumna of Film and Television Institute of India of Pune. Azmi made her film debut in 1974 and soon became one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema, a new-wave movement known for its serious content and neorealism and received government patronage during the times. Azmi has since appeared in over 160 Hindi films in both mainstream and independent cinema, and since 1988, she has acted in several foreign projects. Several of her films have been cited as a form of progressivism which portrays Indian society, its customs and traditions.

In addition to acting, Azmi is a social and women's rights activist. She is married to poet and screenwriter Javed Akhtar. She is a Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA). In appreciation of Azmi's life and works, the President of India gave her a nominated (unelected) membership of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament.

Early life and background

Azmi was born into a Shia family, in Hyderabad, India. Her parents are Kaifi Azmi (an Indian poet) and Shaukat Azmi (a veteran Indian People's Theatre Association stage actress), both of whom were members of the Communist Party of India. Her brother, Baba Azmi, and her sister-in-law, Tanvi Azmi, is also an actress. Azmi was named at the age of eleven by Ali Sardar Jafri. Her parents used to call her Munni. Baba Azmi was named by Prof. Masood Siddiqui as Ahmer Azmi. Her parents had an active social life, and their home was always thriving with people and activities of the communist party. It was not unusual for her to wake up in the morning and find members of the communist party sleeping about, from a previous night's communist social that ran late. Early in childhood, the environment in her home inculcated into her a respect for family ties, social and human values; and her parents always supported her to develop a passion for intellectual stimulation and growth.

Azmi attended Queen Mary School, Mumbai. She completed a graduate degree in Psychology from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, and followed it with a course in acting at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. She explained the reason she decided to attend the film institute, saying: "I had the privilege of watching Jaya Bhaduri in a (Diploma) film, ''Suman'', and I was completely enchanted by her performance because it was unlike the other performances I had seen. I really marvelled at that and said, 'My god, if by going to the Film Institute I can achieve that, that's what I want to do.'" Azmi eventually topped the list of successful candidates of 1972.

Career

Azmi graduated from the FTII in 1973 and signed on to Khwaja Ahmad Abbas' ''Faasla'' and began work on Kanti Lal Rathod's ''Parinay'' as well. Her first release, however, was Shyam Benegal's directorial debut '' Ankur'' (1974). Belonging to the art-house genre of neo-realistic films, '' Ankur'' is based on a true story which occurred in Hyderabad. Azmi played Lakshmi, a married servant and villager who drifts into an affair with a college student who visits the countryside. Azmi was not the original choice for the film, and several leading actresses of that time refused to do it. The film went on to become a major critical success, and Azmi won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance.

She went on to receive the National Film Award consecutively for three years from 1983 to 1985 for her roles in ''Arth'', ''Khandhar'' and ''Paar''. '' Godmother'' (1999) earned her a record fifth National Film Award, taking her tally to five. Azmi's acting has been characterised by a real-life depiction of the roles played by her. In ''Mandi'', she acted as a madam of a whorehouse. For this role, she put on weight and even chewed betel. Real life portrayals continued in almost all her movies. These included the role of a woman named Jamini resigned to her destiny in ''Khandhar'' and a typical urban Indian wife, homemaker and mother in '' Masoom''.

She mainly acted in experimental and parallel Indian cinema. Deepa Mehta's 1996 film ''Fire'' depicts her as a lonely woman, Radha, in love with her sister-in-law. The on-screen depiction of lesbianism (perhaps the first in Indian cinema) drew severe protests and threats from many social groups as well as by the Indian authorities. Her role as Radha brought her international recognition with the Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress at the 32nd Chicago Film Festival and Jury Award for Best Actress at Outfest, Los Angeles. She was the initial choice for Deepa Mehta's ''Water'', which was planned to hit the floors in 2000. A few scenes were already shot. Azmi had to shave her head with Nandita Das to portray the character of Shakuntala. However, due to political reasons, the film was shelved and later shot in 2005 with Seema Biswas replacing Azmi.

Some of her notable films are Shyam Benegal's '' Nishant'' (1975), '' Junoon'' (1978), '' Susman'' (1978), and ''Antarnaad'' (1992); Satyajit Ray's '' Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players)''; Mrinal Sen's ''Khandhar'', ''Genesis'', ''Ek Din Achanak''; Saeed Mirza's ''Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai''; Sai Paranjpye's '' Sparsh'' and ''Disha''; Gautam Ghose's ''Paar''; Aparna Sen's ''Picnic'' and ''Sati''; Mahesh Bhatt's ''Arth''; and Vinay Shukla's '' Godmother''. Her other films include the commercially successful Manmohan Desai's ''Amar Akbar Anthony'' and '' Parvarish'' and Prakash Mehra's '' Jwalamukhi''. Azmi starred in Hollywood productions such as John Schlesinger's ''Madame Sousatzka'' (1988) and Roland Joffe's ''City of Joy'' (1992).

Azmi debuted on the small screen in a soap opera titled ''Anupama''. She portrayed a modern Indian woman who, while endorsing traditional Indian ethos and values, negotiated more freedom for herself. She has participated in many stage plays: notable among them include M. S. Sathyu's ''Safed Kundali'' (1980), based on ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle''; and Feroz Abbas Khan's ''Tumhari Amrita

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