Janam din mubarak ho! Plus, Hira aur patthar (1977)

It's that time of year again, when Sounds Like Power issues a very, very warm happy birthday greeting to Shabana Azmi.

Don't be bashful, Shabana ji!  We love your smile.  

Shabana Azmi is the sine qua non of my love for Hindi movies and all the amazing events and people that have entered my life since I started learning about them.  So apart from my respect and admiration, I also owe her my gratitude for all of that.  Here is a piece I wrote in 2008, explaining how that happened.

Here's wishing Shabana Azmi a peaceful day and a joyful, productive year.

***

The above screencapture is from the 1977 film Hira aur patthar, a fairly forgettable masala film starring Shabana ji opposite her girlhood idol, Shashi Kapoor.  I've posted a comprehensive review of the movie on Filmi Geek.  Here on SLP, though, we take a narrower view.

It's safe to say that Shabana ji is fairly wasted in this movie.  It's not quite as tragic a waste of talent as Amar Akbar Anthony, but she does get much to do here besides fretting and flitting.  And let's face it, for all her copious gifts, Shabana Azmi was never much of a flitter.

She does give good sari, though.  And so, on to the gratuitous screencaptures.

 Even then, best eyes in all of Hindi movies.

 This is a dream sequence, which is why she's dressed so oddly.

Prettiest sequence in the film, from a song, which I will post as a Shabana-gaana another day.

There is a bit of an opportunity for nautanki before the movie is over.

Shashi's tears revive her.  How romantic!

 

Straphanging

Yesterday, Shabana Azmi tweeted that she was visiting Delhi with her sister-in-law, Tanvi Azmi, and had taken a ride on the Metro.

This morning, the Telegraph had the photographic evidence:

As a long-time straphanger myself (growing up in New York City I took the subway to school every day, and I rode Boston's T to work up until I took a job in the suburbs a few years ago), this gave me a smile.

I notice an officer in the background - coincidence, or there to protect the family?  I'm not familiar enough with Delhi's Metro to know how common a sight uniformed presence in the cars might be.

Invitation issued!

If you don't follow me on Twitter, you missed this exchange yesterday:

I'll let you know if the invitation is ever accepted!  I'm sure you'd be able to hear me squealing from wherever you are in the world.

Incidentally, I don't know what the total number of DVDs is yet.  I have entered about 1/4 of my collection into the database - the movies I haven't yet watched - and Shabana ji is in roughly 18 of those.  I have seen about 30 of her movies, but I don't own all of those on DVD.  I estimate that my DVD collection includes somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 of Shabana Azmi's movies.

I hope she packs a toothbrush.

Shabana ji on the nature of classiness

Ican’t call myself classy, it’s for other people to say that. I can only say that this is what I have seen, this is what I have imbibed, and this is how I am. 
 -- Shabana Azmi

This from an article in Forbes India online, where Shabana ji talks about what makes her - and some of the characters she has played - so gosh darn classy.   She goes on to say:

[Class] has to do with dignity, subtlety, with a layered subtext where much more is expressed because it is hidden. It’s got very little to with wealth and money, and much more to do with an attitude that comes from being comfortable in your own skin.

I have to agree with that, and it's part of why women often seem to get classier with age - comfort in one's own skin often goes hand in hand with maturity.

I am not sure I can agree completely with Shabana ji about this part, though:

But it’s when you’re not doing it for public consumption that counts. Like eating. When I’m by myself and nobody’s watching, do I gobble up my food? Do I eat it elegantly? Do I behave in the same way when there are people for whom I want to put my best foot forward?

I just don't think the table manners I use when I am alone are a particularly relevant measure of my quality as a person.  I'd rather expend energy worrying about how I treat others than about whether I'm a bit of a slob in my pajamas alone at the kitchen table.  Put another way, I only have so much energy to expend on self-improvement, and I don't see anything wrong with conserving that energy for behaviors that actually have a measurable effect on others. 

That quibble aside, there is no doubt that Shabana Azmi does know something about class. 

Have a look at the article - both the mesmerizing pictures I have included here (Shabana ji with Javed sahib, above, and Kaifi sahib, below) are from it. 

Internet stalkers beware

Shabana Azmi arms herself against internet stalkers who maintain fan websites in her honor.

It's the sheer delight on her face that really makes me a little nervous here!

This picture is apparently from an art exhibit opening in Mumbai - the TOI piece it came from doesn't provide a whole lot of context.

ETA:  It is an exhibition of "furniture art" promoting the Uttara & Adwait furniture collection.  I found some more excellent pictures here.

Shabana-gaana! "Rang Birange Nazaare"

This week's Shabana-gaana is from Atithee (1978), a movie I have not seen.

 

"Rang birange nazaare" is a nice enough duet, though I have to admit that Shabana ji's performance in the song is fairly generic and uninspired.  Songs like this really don't play to her strengths, even this early in her career when she frequently played the masala heroine.  She did better hamming it up in the funny songs in Parvarish.  

The real question this video raises is:  Why did the costume designer helmet Shashi with such a terrible wig, when he has such gorgeous natural curls?

Multi-starrer in the works?

News like this is always tenuous - a lot can happen when a movie is still in the early planning stages, and this one may never come to be (or may come to be without Shabana ji).  That said, IBN reports that Nikhil Advani is planning a multi-star masala flick whose cast includes Shabana Azmi, Madhuri Dixit, Dimple Kapadia, Karisma Kapoor, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Deepika Padukone, and Genelia D'Souza. 

The first three on that list have long been my dream cast for some movie - any movie, really - and for them alone I am excited by this news.  But, who knows how many of these are signed - they could just be the actors Advani has in mind as he works on the script.  

Advani claims it's not a "women-centric" film (I am really starting to despise that term, and if I can organize my thoughts as to why I'll publish something about it on Filmi Geek one of these days).  He says there are just as many male stars, but the article doesn't include any hint of who they might be. 

Stay tuned ...

Garam Dharm and Garam Shabana

A friend in Calcutta sent this beautiful photograph that was in the Telegraph a few days ago, of Shabana Azmi and Dharmendra at the reception where they were honored with the Padma Bhushan. Don't they both look wonderful?

Stills from Midnight's Children

Salman Rushdie has posted stills from Deepa Mehta's upcoming adaptation of his book Midnight's Children to an album on Facebook.

Looking great!  I'm pleased at the thought of Shabana ji working with Deepa Mehta again ... cautiously optimistic about this one.

What I would give to have been a fly on the wall ...

... when Shabana met Gloria.



I bet that when Shabana Azmi had a chance to sit down and talk with her hero, Gloria Steinem, earlier this week, she wasn't bashful and tongue-tied the way I was back when I met Shabana ji.  Just saying.  

The gorgeous picture is courtesy of Shabana ji herself, via Twitter.   Follow her if you don't already - she single-handedly made this blog obsolete.  Oh, and pease follow me, too. 

Shabana Azmi awarded Padma Bhushan

Warmest congratulations to Shabana Azmi, who was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India today. This decoration is India's third-highest civilian honor, awarded to recognize distinguished service to the nation. It is given in recognition of work in the arts, social work, sciences, and many other fields.

Along with Shabana ji, Dharmendra, Mira Nair, and many others also received the honor this year.

The Padma Bhushan will join the Padma Shree on Shabana ji's mantle - that award is India's fourth-highest civilian honor, which she was given in 1988.

Read more about the award and the award ceremony here.

Twitter makes my day again

Just thought I'd share this delight with you: