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:
[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.
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.
Longtime commenter and friend of SLP Sally reminded me that Shaukat Kaifi's memoir, Kaifi aur Main, has now been published in an English translation. As much as I'd love to read the book in Urdu, I allowed myself a moment of realism and bought a copy of the translation.
It arrived today, and I'll make posts about it here as I read it.
Oh, and in case you are new to SLP or to Shabana Azmi, let me be less cryptic - Shaukat Kaifi is Shabana Azmi's mother; the book is reminiscence about life with Kaifi Azmi, Shabana ji's father. The blurb from Amartya Sen on the back of the book says: "They were united not only by love and marriage, but also by an individually assessed joint commitment to social change, artistic creativity, and personal and political ethics. In this excellent translation we have a lively account of an important part of Indian history...."
Great thanks to reader Mihiri who left me this fabulous link in a comment a couple of weeks ago; it slipped off my radar screen somehow (Blogger handles comments somewhat inelegantly) and I missed it until quite recently.
What it is: a lovely video interview of Shabana Azmi from about four years ago, by Vir Sanghvi for (what I presume is) a television show called Cover Story. In the twenty-minute interview Shabana ji sings a Carnatic swaram, and discusses the difference between commercial acting and art-cinema acting, the Stanislavski method, why she became a film actor, being afraid to smile, why she decided to join a hunger strike for the rights of displaced slum-dwellers, and why she has refused to join any political party, among other things.
My favorite part of the interview is a story that is both about Shabana ji and about her parents. In 1986, Shabana Azmi joined her famous first hunger strike for Nivara Haq, an organization devoted to fighting for slum-dwellers whose homes are destroyed by government and private development, because she felt it was useless for her to lend her voice to the organization if she was not also prepared to go the distance demonstrating with them. It was a decision she made from the heart, quite risky for her career and her public perception, but she believed it was the right thing to do. Government officials tried to convince her mother, Shaukat Kaifi, to stop her, but Shaukat would not. Still, Shaukat was concerned for her daughter's well-being, and when Shabana ji's hunger strike was five days old, she sent a telegram to Shabana's father, Kaifi Azmi, who was then away in Patna. She's getting sick, Shaukat said, what can I do? Please talk some sense into her. Kaifi's response: "Best of luck, comrade."
You can watch the video here. (A note: I was only able to play the video in Internet Explorer; the player interacted poorly with my ad-blocker in Firefox.) And thanks again to Mihiri!
I just came across a lovely piece by Gouri Dange, whom I mentioned here a few days ago. Ms. Dange is a very close friend of Shabana Azmi's sister-in-law Tanvi Azmi, and has republished on her blog an article she wrote about Tanvi a few years ago.
Tanvi and I have spent the last 15 years talking non-stop, laughing recklessly, eating too much, observing mercilessly, arguing gently, crossword solving furiously, weeping occasionally, ranting full-throadely, and exchanging the deepest of secrets - to the exclusion of anyone else - husbands, etc too. A tarot reader recently declared us soul-sisters. We didn't need her to tell us that.Read the rest of the piece on Ms. Dange's blog.
Imagine [me] being a mother and holding a thali and then saying, "Nahi!" and dropping the thali. If this were the case, I would have packed up and gone a long time ago.-- Shabana Azmi
She was in Delhi to shoot for Anubhav Sinha’s Rajdhani Express, which she describes as “a completely mad film. It is a political satire on the lines of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. In fact, Anubhav, who has written it, says that it is his ode to Jaane Bhi...”I had not thus far encountered very much news about Anubhav Sinha's political satire, so this is quite nice to see. As always, more news when it's available.
Yesterday Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar were at the music launch for Farhan Akhtar's upcoming film, Rock On. Farhan is not the director of this film - he's its star. Apparently he enjoyed making the film quite a bit. It seems there's nothing Farhan cannot do - he sang his own songs for the film, and gave a rocking performance at the launch. Here is a blog post with lots more about the launch.
That's Javed sahib and Shabana ji at the launch, with Shabana ji's sister-in-law Tanvi Azmi. I am not sure who the woman on the left is but I am going to guess that she is Tanvi's daughter.
... make that "Exceptionally beautiful family portrait."
Isn't that just lovely? Click the image to see it in all its full-sized glory.
Thanks to a SLP reader for pointing me in the directions of some pictures from the launch of Kaifiyat, the re-released recording of Kaifi Azmi's poetry (mentioned here). The whole fam-damily was there, as my father would say:
Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Shabana's mother Shaukat, sister-in-law Tanvi Azmi, brother Baba Azmi and, um, someone else.
A closer look at Javed sahib, Shabana ji, Shaukat ji, Tanvi ji.
You can see more here.
This weekend in Mumbai Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar commemorated the sixth anniversary of Kaifi Azmi's death with a re-release of a recording of Kaifi sahib reciting a number of his poems. Reports here and here. I haven't yet seen any pictures of this event but I'll let you know if that changes.
Shabana ji has been deeply inspired by her father and often cites two of his poems in particular, Aurat ("woman")and Makaan ("home, shelter") as particularly moving to her. The DNA India article about the re-release includes some lines from Aurat:
Jannat ek aur hai jo mard ke pahluu mein nahin
Uski aazaad ravish par bhi machalnaa hai tujhe
Uth meri jaan mere saath hi chalnaa hai tujhe
There is another heaven which is not by men's sideThere is a video interview I have linked elsewhere on this blog - I am not at the moment remembering which one it is, perhaps the Charlie Rose interview - in which Shabana ji talks about what a remarkable idea this poem expresses, and how far ahead of its time. Because sixty years ago, even the vanguard of the progressive movement was still overwhelmingly male; the men went out to fight for human rights and freedom from oppression, but even they expected their women to keep to their traditional duties. Yet here was Kaifi sahib exhorting his companion to march and fight by his side. It's no surprise that Shabana ji remembers this poem with pride.
You must persist along its free paths as well
Arise, my love; you must walk with me.
So I don't miss wonderful things like this:
Thanks so much to reader fanatica de peliculas for the heads-up about this beyond-delicious video. After I finished squeeing I caught my breath and prepared this quick-and-dirty translation of the voice-over. Usual caveats - it's not entirely literal, and I'm just a learner so there are probably some errors. But you get the gist.
Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar's entire family was together with them, drenched in Holi fun. Just like every year, this year's Holi celebration at their house was a great time. Several of their friends from the Bollywood world were with them sharing the Holi joy. But Shabana Azmi got into the Holi spirit even more than everyone else.
Don't feel bad - it's Holi ! Shabana Azmi and her family were saying this to everyone. Just like every year, this year Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar went all out to celebrate Holi. Many of their friends came and completely enjoyed the festival as well. The Holi colors covered Shabana Azmi beautifully. Everyone who came to this party had a very special Holi. Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar celebrated with complete abandon. And watching them, their friends could not help but join in. It made for a memorable Holi indeed.
For your Friday enjoyment: some more unusual pictures from the vault, this time a black-and-white selection ...
...looking young and elfen
... just looking gorgeous
... with abba.
There are many, many, many more where those came from!
Most of you SLP readers probably know that the gorgeous and gifted Tabu is Shabana Azmi's niece - through, I believe, Shaukat Kaifi's side, the Hyderabadi side of Shabana ji's family. And so when I was tickled today by this interview with Tabu I thought I would share it with all of you.
Tabu is a private person and doesn't much enjoy talking to the press or going on junkets to promote her films. She seems to intersperse high profile projects with regional projects that keep her closer to her Hyderabad home. In fact the only thing that really got her talking was complaining about the media at large:
Q: Recently, there were reports of you doing Deepak Tijori's film in English, Zoya Akhtar's untitled project opposite Farhan Akhtar and Shoojit Sircar's Shoebite starring Amitabh Bachchan. But you have denied that you are working on these films.I enjoyed this comment and hopes she gets her wish:
A: (Sighs) The directors and I were only in the process of talking about whether or not to do the films. I was never doing them. I hope to find better ways to deal with such reports. So far, the only way I've dealt with them is detaching myself from them so that they don't occupy my mindspace.To be honest, I'm unable to cope with the media's intrusion in our lives. I can't handle "who wore what, who ate what, who said what"kind of reportage. I tell myself to ignore it. Even denying such news would give it undeserved importance. I have just two requests. I wish the directors refrain from announcing that I am doing their film until I sign the contract and that the media publishes better pictures of me.
Q: What is that one role that you really want to do?
A: A waitress in an American diner kind of setting. I like those characters.
Reader Aung Phyoe reports in a recent comment that Shabana Azmi is signed for a Rituparno Ghosh film with Naseeruddin Shah and Vidya Balan. I hadn't come across that news yet and I can't find any more about it at the moment, save this sourceless post on the Radio Sargam blog. I'll keep you posted.
I'm sorry to say that I don't share Aung's enthusiasm for the project; I've yet to be positively impressed by a Rituparno Ghosh movie and I hope he doesn't make a botch of this one as well.
I do like the tentative title, "Kya haseen sitam" - what a beautiful affliction - almost certainly a reference to the gorgeous song "Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam" from Kaagaz ke phool, a song written by Shabana Azmi's father Kaifi Azmi.
I had in my automated news searches a few reports about a promotional event for watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne, a company with which Farhan Akhtar is affiliated; his whole family came out to stump for him. (The Times of India article linked above includes Kaifi Azmi in the list of family members who made it to the event; somehow I don't think Kaifi sahib was really up to it.) I didn't think the stories themselves were interesting enough to warrant mention here but dormeg found a picture that caught my attention for a couple of reasons.
Javed sahib, Shabana ji, and Farhan Akhtar you will of course recognize. On the left is Tanvi Azmi, Shabana ji's sister in law (Baba Azmi's wife), who is a noted television (and to a lesser extent film) actor. I very rarely seem to see news from that quarter of Shabana ji's family so it's interesting to me to see her turning up here, and she's lovely. (I don't know who the gentleman on the right is; presumably some A. Lange & Söhne executive.)
The other thing that caught my attention about this picture is that Shabana ji is wearing the very same sari that was ripped to shreds (figuratively) by the fashionistas I mentioned in this post. So even if Shabana ji (or her staff) does monitor critiques published on the internet - hardly likely - she is showing the courage of her fashion convictions when it comes to this sari. For the record: it's not my favorite; I've seen her in much better. She still looks great though! Farhan and his dad look very fine as well.
Shabana Azmi appeared yesterday at an event in Mumbai with her mother, along with other filmi mother-daughter pairs like Hema Malini and Esha Deol (Sharmila Tagore was there too but Soha Ali Khan couldn't make it), raising awareness of a variety of women's issues. The Times of India reports that Shabana ji "spoke about the need to spread awareness about women not being the determinant of a child’s sex."
Those of you who saw Shyam Benegal's film Hari-bhari might remember that this was an issue for Shabana ji's character in that film. Her doctor explained to her that her failure to conceive a son was due to her husband's contribution and suggested that he be tested. This notion enraged her husband and he threw her out of his house. It is still the case that many people are unaware of this scientific fact, and in communities in which sons are treasured and daughters deplored, women can find themselves ostracized and abused on the assumption that the failure to produce sons lies with them alone.
There are two problematic lines of thinking here: first, the premise that girl children are not to be valued as highly as boys, and second, even if sons are desired, that women should be castigated for bearing only daughters when the biological fact is that the male contribution determines the child's sex. Changing both of these attitudes is high on Shabana ji's list of causes near to her heart.
ETA: dormeg at the BollyWHAT? forums found this picture from the event at bollyworld.com - Esha, Shabana, Shaukat, and Hema:
In New Post India, Farhan Akhtar talks about directing his stepmother Shabana Azmi in the short film Positive, part of Mira Nair's AIDS JaaGo project discussed here. He said that despite their personal relationship, he knew she wouldn't compromise her standards to do him any favors: "I knew if I went to her with something she didn't approve of, she'd tell me to buzz off, regardless of our relationship. I didn't want her to be in that position where she might have to say no."
In other news, a British showbiz outlet called The First Post reports that Mahesh Bhatt has chosen Shabana ji to play the lead in his Benazir Bhutto bio-pic. I'm a little surprised to see this news coming out of Britian before India, so I'll remain skeptical until I see quotes from Shabana ji confirming it. The First Post also has Hollywood throwing a hat into the Bhutto bio-pic ring, in a project to be directed by Robert Redford.
Times of India reports that Shabana ji would like to play the late Benazir Bhutto. Apparently some 15 years ago there was a fledgling plan for a Tariq Ali film in which she would do just that; with Ms. Bhutto's recent assassination there may be renewed interest in this project. It's been pointed out to me before that there is a strong resemblance between the two women; from her comments in the article, I'd say that Shabana ji also seems aware of this. I don't want to say too much about Ms. Bhutto here and now, but I will say that if the time and the project is right, it is a casting I would very much like to see.
Shabana ji covers a range of topics in an interview with Subhash K. Jha. I believe that parts of this interview are recycled from last year - Subhash must have been on deadline. Toward the end, Shabana ji asks Subhash to teach her to cook ("Please Subhash, mujhe khana pakana sikha do.") You know, I'm quite a decent cook and I'd be happy to give Shabana ji an afternoon of my time. I've even prepared the recipe in this article.
This isn't really news about Shabana ji, rather an interesting mention of her. She is quoted in a very interesting recent editorial in Hindustan Times on the issue of achieving a secular Uniform Civil Code.
Our friend Aspi admires Javed Akhtar but is feeling a little bit overexposed of late.
Javed sahib has written his own glowing review of the music of Taare zameen par. I enjoyed this review because I loved the movie and even though it's a bit manipulative, I've been listening to the soundtrack obsessively since I saw the film. The lyrics have struck me as a little reminiscent of Javed sahib's, especially in the title song, which features sequences of similes beginning with "jaise" that remind me of Javed sahib's "Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa lagaa ..."
That's all for now - I wish all of you a safe and warm New Year (I guess it's already 2008 for some of you), and I'll see you next year.
The December poll pitting amma against beti is almost over - please have a vote if you have not yet. In the meantime, here is some more about mother and daughter. First, a reader sent in this sweet and lovely picture of them.
And Rohinik, from the BollyWHAT? discussion forum, offers the following tale:
Shabana and her mother would get into spats at times and wouldn't speak to each other. Whoever wanted to make up with the other would leave a champa (type of flower) at each other's door. Even fights were poetic at their house!
Shabana transformed me into a compulsive kurtawalla. The kurta, Shabana, and I have remained together ever since.
-- Javed Akhtar
Source: Bollyvista (with thanks to Specsy at the BollyWHAT? forums). I had noticed that in the few pictures I'd seen of Javed sahib in the 1970s, he wore western clothes, while today he always wears kurta-pajama and a Nehru vest. I'd wondered when he made the change, and why - was it a semi-political statement? Was it because the kurta-pajama was more comfy as he grew a little around the middle? But now we know - it's because Shabana ji thinks a guy in traditional clothes is sexy.
