August 13, 2007

Koffee with Karan redux



The show has aired - Koffee with Karan featuring Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, and Farhan Akhtar. I watched it here; this is a flawed capture that is missing a key segment. Eventually it will be available legally here and I will watch it again, in full, then. [UPDATE: until the official version goes up, here is another source - here you can see the crucial missing segment, in which Shabana ji talks about what it's like to be married to a poet.]

It was a lot of fun; a lot of smiling and laughing and teasing. Some of the highlights for me included Javed sahib ribbing Shabana ji for treating things very seriously and analytically - he said she takes a joke as if it were a riddle, and tries to solve it, picking it apart and turning it over and over.

I do that too.

On my second viewing I'll see if I can overanalyze the show as well. For now, though, I'll leave you with my very favorite moment of all. At the tail end of the show, Karan asked her about reprising her mother's role in Umrao Jaan, and they discussed the film for a moment.

Shabana ji: I loved the clothes I wore in the film and my scenes were delicious.
Karan: And what did you think of the film in its entirety?
Shabana ji: I liked myself.

The sheepish smile that followed this was utterly priceless. Still, this is a point on which Shabana ji and I see completely eye to eye. She was delicious, and she was the best thing about Umrao Jaan, by a lot.

Take the time to watch the show; it's a pleasant look at Javed sahib and Shabana ji in their element, holding court and commanding attention.



Folks, I love this woman. I just love her. And I feel so fortunate not just to be sharing the planet with her, but to be doing so in the age of the internet, so that I get to know that she exists and study her work and see her television appearances just hours after they air on the other side of the globe. Isn't that truly a marvelous thing?

3 comments:

Daddy's Girl said...

I enjoyed the show very much, it was definitely a lot of fun, very relaxed - I think the comfort and affection between Shabana and Javed really came through. Karan seemed a bit nervous in some parts, but he managed to keep it together.

I had a good laugh at the anecdotes, especially Javed's 'Humko!' story (actually I think this was my best bit), Shabana's 'filmi mad' story, and Farhan's account of Shabana's comments after watching the new 'Don'. And I loved your favourite moment - the sheepish smile was indeed priceless. Another Shabana moment I really enjoyed was when she tried to change her 'rapid fire response' to the Sonia Gandhi question.

I liked the way Shabana spoke - confident but not overbearing, thoughtful but not pretentious, down-to-earth and honest... This was actually the first Shabana Azmi interview I've watched, and I enjoyed it so much that I'm going to check out all the other ones you've featured on this site.

ANGELES said...

I LOVE HER TOO. SHE'S SMART, GOOD LOOKING, A WONDERFUL ACTRESS AND SHE KNOWS ALL THIS. MANY TIMES I FEEL THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SIT DOWN WITH HER AND CHAT FOR A LONG TIME, ASKING HER ABOUT DIFFERENT THINGS AND ENJOYING TO GET TO KNOW HER, JUST FORGETTING ABOUT TIME PASSING BY. I KNOW THAT BEING ABLE TO MEET HER WOULDN'T BE SO HARD, BUT I WOULD FEEL VERY SAD TO SAY GOODBYE. SO I'D RATHER KEEP ON LOVING HER FROM A DISTANCE, THRU HER INTERVIEWS, HER DEEDS AND ALL THE MOVIES WHERE SHE APPEARS. STILL, NOTHING SHE DOES LEAVES ME INDIFFERENT, I FEEL I'VE KNOWN HER ALL MY LIFE. WELL, BORROWING AND IDEA FROM "FIRE" I WOULD SAY THAT THERE IS NO WORD IN OUR LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE WHAT I FEEL. PEACE.

Filmi Geek said...

Angeles, your sentiments are lovely and so beautifully expressed - would you mind please not using all caps to express them in the future? I love to hear from you but it's quite hard for my tired old eyes to read!