The National Film Award winning actress Shabana Azmi is one of the leading ladies in parallel art cinema not only in India but worldwide. A social activist and humanitarian, Shabana Azmi is renowned for her stunning performances in different genres of cinema. Her contribution to cinema and art is undoubtedly unrivalled and therefore she has been honored with the prestigious Padma Shri Award by the government of India.
Born on 18 September 1950 the famed India poet Kaifi Azmi and stage actress Shaukat Azmi, Shabana witnessed an active social life right from her childhood. Both her parents were the members of political party, CPI, Communist Party of India. Her brother Baba Azmi is a cinematographer while her nieces Tabu and Farah Naaz are well known actresses.
A graduate in psychology from the St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Shabana Azmi later joined the reputed Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune to complete a course in acting. She was inspired to join the FTII after she saw Jaya Bhaduri’s performance in a diploma film ‘Suman’. She was completely moved by the performance and decided to join FTII and ultimately topped the batch of 1972.
Shabana Azmi was earlier linked to film director Shekhar Kapur. However she married notable lyricist, poet and Bollywood scriptwriter Javed Akhtar in the year 1984. Javed was previously married to scriptwriter Honey Irani. Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani have two children, Son Farhan Akhtar and daughter Zoya Akhtar. Both are film directors and Farhan recently plunged into acting with super hit ‘Rock On!’
Shabana Azmi made her cinematic debut in ‘Ankur’ based on a true event that occurred in the city of Hyderabad. Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal’s directorial debut ‘Ankur’ bagged three National Film Awards and Shabana’s first National Award for the best actress. Shabani Azmi earned four more National Awards for her riveting performances in Mahesh Bhatt’s ‘Arth’, Mrinal Sen’s ‘Khandhar’, Goutom Ghose’s ‘Paar’ and Vinay Shukla’s ‘Godmother’.
Her other critically acclaimed performances were seen in Shyam Benegal's ‘Nishant’, ‘Junoon’, ‘Susman’ and ‘Antarnaad’ Satyajit Ray directed ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ Mrinal Sen’s ‘Genesis’, ‘Ek Din Achanak’, Saeed Mirza’s ‘Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai’ Sai Paranjpye’s ‘Sparsh’ and ‘Disha’, Aparna Sen’s ‘Picni’c and ‘Sati’ etc. She also worked in successful mainstream films like Manmohan Desai's ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ and ‘Parvarish’ and Prakash Mehra’s ‘Jwalamukhi’.
Shabana Azmi also appeared in international projects, namely John Schlesinger’s ‘Madame Sousatzka’, Roland Joffe’s ‘City of Joy’, Nicholas Klotz’s ‘Bengali Night’, Channel 4’s ‘Immaculate Conception’, Blake Edwards' ‘Son of the Pink Panther’, and Ismail Merchant’s ‘In Custody’. Azmi featured in a television series ‘Anupama’ and also appeared in plays like M. S. Sathyu’s ‘Safed Kundali’ and Feroz Abbas Khan's ‘Tumhari Amrita’ along with actor Farooq Sheikh.
Besides receiving several Film Honors in India including the prestigious National Awards and Filmfare Awards, Shabana Azmi has won many international laurels, including the Best Actress award for ‘Libaas’ in North Korea, Best Actress award for Gautam Ghose’s ‘Patang’ at the Taormina Arte Festival in Italy, Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress for ‘Fire’ at the Chicago International Film Festival and Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film, for ‘Fire’ in L.A. Outfest. Many of her films have received special attention at the Norwegian Film Institute, the Smithsonian Institution and the American Film Institute.
Shabana Azmi supports a number of social causes and has played an active role in creating awareness about AIDS and the fighting the stigma associated with it. Shabana Azmi has raised her voice against communalism and participated in a number of demonstrations against communalism.
Shabana Azmi has been active in cinema for around 36 years and will soon be seen in a British comedy film ‘ It’s a Wonderful Afterlife’ directed by Gurinder Chadha.
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Shabana Azmi, Bollywood star, actress, Indian film actor, Farhan Akhtar
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