June poll: most anticipated upcoming project?

Here we are, ten days into the month, and I remain completely without inspiration for a poll topic. So instead of something clever and interesting I have resorted to the very dull question: which of Shabana Azmi's upcoming projects are you looking forward to the most?

Here is a rundown of the choices with links to where they were discussed on SLP.

Kalpvriksh: Manika Sharma's fairy tale, ready for release later this year. No word yet on Shabana ji's role, but the film looks promising and cute.

Sorry Bhai: Onir's romantic comedy, also expected later this year. The return of the popular pair of Shabana Azmi and Boman Irani makes this one too promising to miss.

Hamlet adaptation: Another Onir project, recently announced; I have my doubts about this one but will keep an open mind.

Benazir Bhutto biopic: Mahesh Bhatt's production hit some setbacks, and I never heard whether Shabana ji was in consideration for Robert Redford's Hollywood version. But the latest news on this was that something was going on that Shabana ji was not talking about.

Anubhav Singh satire: This only came up once, but so tickled am I by the prospect of Shabana Azmi in a political satire that I had to include it in the poll.

Other: if you browse the upcoming films section of SLP you will see lots of rumors and speculation of projects that don't pan out. Maybe some of these are simply shelved and will emerge, renewed, at a later time. If your most anticipated Shabana ji film is one of these, or even something else that I've missed, choose "other" and let us know in the comments.

In other news, I'd like to send out once more my desperate appeal: send me guests posts, folks, please. I want you to contribute to SLP. I can't be the only person on Earth whose keyboard is busting out to talk about Shabana Azmi. Send me your essays, reviews, comments, poetry, whatever. I will post them anonymously if you like. Just write to me at filmigeek at comcast dot net and get yourself heard on SLP.

April poll redux - best younger man for Shabana Azmi

It's well past time for the results of the April poll, which asked who would be the preferred younger man for a, shall we say May-September romance story with Shabana Azmi?



The clear winner, with 11 votes (a third of the total), was Irfan Khan, and may I just take this opportunity to say rrrowr! Irfan Khan is a very handsome guy and a fine, fine actor to boot. He has been matched with Shabana ji's niece Tabu more than once, and I think a romance between him and Shabana would possibly cause movie screens to burst into flames. Need I mention that Irfan received my own vote?

Not too far behind Irfan, though, two more Khans tied for second place: Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan each received 7 votes, cementing their rivalry even here at SLP. So I propose a plot in which the two of them compete for Shabana ji's attention. Need I specify who wins that struggle in my imagined film? Well, okay, I will - Dimple Kapadia, in a twist that surprises everyone.

The brooding Rahul Bose put up a respectable showing with four votes, and this, too, is a pairing I would not be opposed to, as I think he has the gravitas and the skill to match up well with Shabana ji on screen.

Next is the young Kunal Kapoor, with two votes. Kunal is not to my taste physically (though he is generally considered quite dreamy) but seems to be a talented actor. Still, in my view he's too young for this job; it's hard to imagine effective, believable sexual tension between him and Shabana ji on screen.

Bringing up the rear are Akshaye Khanna and Saif Ali Khan with just one vote each. I'm not sure why they received such a poor showing. Saif Ali Khan managed some interesting tension with Dimple Kapadia in Being Cyrus and I think, given the right script, a romance between him and Shabana could be very sexy, in a creepy sort of way. As to Akshaye Khanna, perhaps memories of the lush chemistry between Shabana ji and his father hurt his performance in this poll.

Stay tuned for the June poll - I've no idea what it will be yet, but I am hopeful that inspiration will strike in the next several days.

March poll recap and April poll: If not Shah Rukh, then who?

It was close for a while, but by the end of the March poll, the result was pretty clear: 17 of you want to see Shah Rukh Khan romancing with Shabana Azmi, versus 12 of you (well, of us) who don't.

This is, to me, the best way to see Shabana ji on the screen with Shah Rukh:



See, he knows his place! -- I'm joking; I don't mean to bash Shah Rukh Khan, who with the right script and direction is entertaining enough even to me. But last month's poll does raise the inevitable question: who would you most like to see in an older-woman, younger-man romance with Shabana Azmi? I've put a rather arbitrary selection of choices in the poll on the right; go ahead and register your vote. Shah Rukh is included - but even if you voted for him in the previous poll, he doesn't have to be your first choice now. And, I'm sure I've missed some good candidates, so if you pick "other," please let us know who you'd pick. ETA: yes, I was very sleepy when I wrote the poll and actually didn't include an "other" option. Durrh. You still have the option, just leave a comment! sorry....

March poll: Should they or shouldn't they?

I've had chats with several folks about different kinds of films they'd like to see, and one that often comes up is a mature, older-woman younger-man romance. I would love to see Shabana Azmi in a film like this - could be a comedy like Cheeni kum in reverse, or even something more serious.

The trouble is that when my acquaintances and I are fantasizing about this kind of film, the name that always comes up to play the lead man is Shah Rukh Khan.

And I just can't stand the idea.

It's not just that Shah Rukh Khan doesn't appeal to me - that's only part of it. There's an aesthetic mismatch that I'm not sure even the most talented director could bridge. Shah Rukh Khan is good at what he does, but what he does is broad, playing to the back of the house. Shabana ji's realist approach would never work with this, and so she too would be forced to pull out the cartoon acting. She'd have to give the kind of performance she gave in Umrao Jaan. The result would be two hours of competitive scenery-chewing; bordering on intolerable even in a comedy.

I'm not offering a suggestion for a different lead at this point - that could be a later poll, dependent upon the results of this one. Today I am just asking the yes-or-no question: Would you like to see Shabana ji opposite Shah Rukh Khan in a story with some kind of romantic tension? (The romance need not be the only plot, but it must be a considerable force in the story - I'm not intending here to poll about the notion of a film in which they play siblings, or colleagues without any sexual tension.) What do you think of my analysis above - have I got it all wrong? Or does this thought make you cringe just as much as it does me?

So should they or shouldn't they? Vote over on the right.



Thanks as always to Beth for the silly (and frightening) graphic.

February poll results: No surprises here

It should come as a surprise to no one that Naseeruddin Shah came out on top in February's romance themed poll, which asked who is Shabana Azmi's best leading man. After all, in last October's poll Masoom came away as the most popular of Shabana ji's movies among SLP's readers, and what could be sweeter than the scene in Sparsh in which he describes what makes her beautiful until she blushingly cries "Stop!" Shabana and Naseer match so well, with their understated, realist style and their unconventional good looks - the relationships they portray are palpable and real, more like families you actually know than like characters in movies.

It's fascinating to me that in real life they don't particularly like each other.



Naseeruddin ran away with the poll, collecting 17 of the poll's 32 votes, a real majority and almost three times as many as his nearest competition. The next closest "leading man" was Nandita Das with six votes for her spicy pairing with Shabana ji in Deepa Mehta's Fire. I am very partial to this pairing (though my vote went to Naseer), and find it tender, steamy, and believable. I'd say that I'd love to see it again, but I'm not going to hold my breath for that to happen. ;-)

After Nandita Das, Vinod Khanna and Boman Irani garnered some support, with four and three votes respectively. I think I mentioned that after seeing Shaque the Shabana-Vinod pairing rose considerably in my mind. And I've already stated my considerably more realistic wish to see another movie about Shabana ji and Boman ji as a couple.

Finally, Shashi Kapoor and Om Puri picked up a vote each for their diverse resumes of both art-house and mainstream pairings with Shabana ji. And poor Kulbhushan Kharbanda could not muster any votes at all - that's what he gets, I suppose, for philandering and neglecting our Shabana in such films as Arth and Fire. He should have treated her better!

Stay tuned for the March poll, in which we ask: Should they or shouldn't they?

February poll: Pyar ka mausam

Stumped for ideas for this month's poll, I went to my friend Beth, a veritable font of creative and diabolical ideas. "Valentine's day is coming," she said, "why not ask what everyone's favorite Shabana jodi is?"

Pure genius, I tell you. So here it is, in honor of the season: Which actor is your favorite romantic pairing for Shabana Azmi?

I've listed all the significant choices I could think of here; but remember that I've still seen fewer than a quarter of Shabana ji's films - if I've overlooked your favorite, please let me know in the comments, and accept my apologies. Otherwise, get to the right-hand sidebar and vote!

Shashi Kapoor

This dashing star was Shabana Azmi's own favorite when she was a girl, and when she grew up she got to appear opposite him in films. Whether in commercial films or art films, the combination was always searing and edgy.

Vinod Khanna

Vinod was, for a while, the biggest star in Hindi films not named Amitabh Bachchan, and Shabana Azmi was his Heroine Number 1. I have not yet seen many of their films, but the pairing was popular, and I've got a few queued up for the not-too-distant future.

Naseeruddin Shah

I think everyone loves this pair. Their understated acting styles mesh well together in a pairing that is always real, believable, and sweet - and occasionally steaming, as in the scene from Sparsh from which this screencap is taken.

Rajesh Khanna

My feelings about Rajesh Khanna are a matter of public record, and the only film I've seen of this pairing is Avtaar, which left me rather cold. But he was a massive star, and Shabana ji was paired with him frequently, so I am sure there are folks out there who love the match-up.

Sanjeev Kumar

One of my favorite actors, I've only seen Sanjeev Kumar with Shabana ji in Shatranj ke khilari, in which chess had already pretty much killed whatever spark there might have once been in their marriage, leaving poor Shabana ji's character bitter and scheming. But I know they've been cute together in other films I haven't yet seen, as can be seen in the adorable song linked in this early Shabana-gaana post.

Kulbhushan Kharbanda
[picture to be added]
It's a little twisted to include Kulbhushan ji in this collection, as he only seems to play a neglectful husband to Shabana ji. Even in their portrayal of troubled marriages, though, there is something about these two that connects, an earthiness I guess that makes them good to watch together.

Om Puri

Om Puri has played in a variety of types of roles opposite Shabana ji, but their romance in Mrityudand - still one of the finest seduction scenes I have ever seen in any film - earns him a spot on this list.

Nandita Das

You didn't think I'd leave her out, did you? I know Fire is not for everyone, but I think most who have seen this film would agree that the pairing was intense, smoky and sweet all at the same time.

Boman Irani

A very recent pairing, Shabana ji and Boman Irani played off one another with delightful humor and tenderness in Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., and had a briefer and more acrimonious turn together in Farhan Akhtar's Positive from the AIDS JaaGo series. I know lots of folks would like to see them together again.

What do you think? Vote on the right.

January Poll results

Well the results are in: you share my bias toward Shabana Azmi's 1990s looks.



Our ultra-superficial January Poll asked: in which decade is Shabana ji at her loveliest? And the winner, by a large margin, was the 1990s, taking 11 votes, almost half of the total. The 80s are not far behind with six votes, followed by a split between the youthful 70s and the formidable present, three votes each.

I recently commented elsewhere that I generally think women are most beautiful in their 40s (some just continue improving even beyond that), and that this basic fact is obscured by our youth-obsessed culture; I have seen numerous young fans of Hindi film shocked to discover that Madhuri Dixit, or Juhi Chawla, or even Sridevi look even better today than they did in their so-called "primes". That the 40-something Shabana Azmi should be the clear winner of the January poll shows that SLP readers are already well aware of this fundamental truth.

Coming up: a seasonally appropriate February poll that is genius from the mind of Beth. Stay tuned.

January Poll: Which decade makes you say "guh"?

For January - I promised as vapid and superficial poll as one can imagine, and I think I'd be hard-pressed to come up with one as content-free as this. So here it is:

In which decade is Shabana Azmi at her loveliest? I'm talking about looks here, and looks alone. That's it, bas. Is it:

The elven 1970s?


The glamorous 1980s?


The introspective 1990s?


The arch 2000s?


And I know it's tough to choose - my own vote, for the 1990s, does not mean I think she's less than stunning now or that I wouldn't be content with only earlier images if I had no other choice. But Shabana ji's 1990s looks have something extra, something special and close to my heart - the blush of new love, I suspect, since the first films of hers that I saw were from that era. What about you? We've got a whole year ahead of us to discuss politics, acting, activism, and films. For this month, let's just focus on the frivolous.

December poll roundup

The December poll question, you may recall, was: which Khanum Jaan did you like better, Shabana ji's or her mother's?

Not surprisingly - this is not, after all, a blog devoted to Shaukat Kaifi - Shabana ji took the honors. But Shaukat amma put up a decent showing - she collected five votes, against her daughter's nine.



January poll coming soon. I promise, it will be vapid and utterly superficial.

December poll: Khanum v. Khanum

This month's poll pits amma against beti.

In Muzaffar Ali's 1981 film Umrao Jaan, Shabana Azmi's mother, Shaukat Kaifi, played the madam Khanum, who raised, trained, and exploited Umrao for all she was worth. Shabana ji took on the role in the 2006 version of the film by J.P. Dutta.

Who do you think was a better Khanum?



Shaukat Kaifi's Khanum is ruthless, even cruel. Even if she genuinely loves Umrao, she doesn't hesitate to sell her down the river when it's expedient to do so. Shuakat plays the character with exquisite control, registering a wide range of expression with little more than a cock of an eyebrow.



Shabana ji's Khanum chews the scenery as eagerly as she chews her paan, but there is a vulnerability to her (left unexplained by the film) that gives her a more genuinely maternal aspect than her mother's version of the character had.

So which one do you think is better? Not which film - just which Khanum. Vote in the poll at the right, and leave your comments below.

November poll: results

Sorry for the radio silence here, folks. I had a house full of relatives for the past week, and there hasn't been much Shabana news on the wires, so it got a little quiet here at SLP.

The November poll - Shabana films from an alternate universe - collected a total of 24 votes, and the results were pretty interesting.

A plurality of you want to see Shabana ji in more comedies. Hema Malini's role in Seeta aur Geeta won the poll with 8 votes, and Meryl Streep's role in The Devil Wears Prada picked up a healthy four.

Beyond that, poor Seema Biswas takes a beating, as 7 of you wanted to see what Shabana ji could do as Phoolan Devi in Bandit Queen, and four more were pining for the original casting of Water, with Shabana ji in Seema ji's role.

I was in a weird mood the day I wrote the poll, and perhaps that is why mine was the only vote for Shabana ji as Sigourney Weaver's Ripley in the Alien series. And finally, Jaya ji's role in Hazaar chaurasi ki maa didn't get any votes at all - perhaps that is because no one has seen the film - and neither did Eva Peron (were she alive she would perhaps have sought a way to rig the election in her favor).

Thanks for being sporting - I know this was an odd poll - and I have something a little less peculiar planned for the December Poll.

I'll be back in the next couple of days with some more screencaps and any news that turns up at SLP's internet stalking headquarters. In the meantime, I'd like to call your attention to the rich discussion happening in the comments on an earlier post.

November poll: alternate universe

I've had a stay of execution, as it were.

The reason I've been so overwhelmed with work the last couple of weeks is that I was preparing for a trial that was scheduled for the end of the month.

The trial has been postponed to the spring, which means I can breathe a little easier, and it also means: you get a November poll!

Last month's poll was a warm-up. This month things get really weird. I invite you to step into an alternate universe, and ask yourself the question: What role do you wish you could have seen Shabana Azmi play? Maybe it's something that was offered to her, but didn't work out. Maybe it's something someone else did that you think she could have done better. Or maybe it's just something that would put her skills to use in an altogether different way.

I offer a few choices here - neutrally, with no judgment intended against those who performed these roles originally - and invite you to vote in the sidebar at the right. If none of these choices strikes your fancy, then step through the looking glass and offer up your own "what if?" scenarios.

Seema Biswas's role in Water. Shabana ji was originally slated to play the role of Shakuntala in the third installment of Deepa Mehta's trilogy; she was shaven and ready to go when the Varanasi sets were attacked and destroyed on the eve of the first day of shooting, and when the production was finally resurrected some five years later in Sri Lanka, Seema Biswas took over, for a variety of reasons. Seema Biswas is an outstanding actor and she did a fine, fine job, but I couldn't help pining for the casting as originally envisioned.

Jaya Bachchan's role in Hazaar chaurasii ki maa. Not really a stretch here; it's easy enough to imagine Shabana ji taking the reins in this art-house film about a woman digging into the dark side of a political movement in order to understand why her son was murdered. That is not to say that Jaya ji did not do a fantastic job, and it was a terrific movie as it was.

Meryl Streep's role in The Devil Wears Prada. Just ruminate on it for a minute. I haven't seen Loins of Punjab Presents, but my gut tells me that Shabana ji can do evil bitch very convincingly. And really, is there anyone in Hollywood this side of Meryl Streep who even comes close?

A "mother role" in a Karan Johar flick. On Koffee with Karan Shabana ji said she's turned down "big bucks" (her words, not mine) for simpering doormat mother roles. But something tells me that in her hands, these roles might be transformed. What do you think?

Seema Biswas's role in Bandit Queen. Not to pick on Seema Biswas here by listing her twice; I don't begrudge her any of her roles, especially this one, in which she turned in a chilling and outstanding performance. I wonder how Shabana ji would have handled the crazed, damaged, and terrifying Phoolan Devi in this harrowing film.

Sigourney Weaver's role in the Alien films. Shabana as Ripley - so good it almost hurts to imagine it. Someone once sent me a screencap of Shabana ji wielding some kind of strange weapon (or perhaps it was a firehose) in Mardon wali baat, and that image is what I have in mind when I think of Shabana ji stepping into Sigourney Weaver's space suit for this role.

Patti LuPone's role in Evita (on stage; Madonna's role in the movie).- Seriously, hear me out. Eva Peron is like Rambhi from Godmother, writ on a national instead of a local canvas. Can't you just see Shabana ji on the balcony of the Casa Rosada with the updo and the pearls? It's a delicious thought. She might not quite have Patti LuPone's singing chops, but then - neither does Madonna.

Hema Malini's roles in Seeta aur Geeta. Because I just really want to know if she could pull off this kind of pure comedy.

I'll leave it there for now - I'm sure I could think of more - but I really look forward to all your thoughts. Oh: my vote goes to Ripley - I just cannot resist Shabana Azmi kicking ass and taking names - but it was a tough choice.

October poll - results

The results of the October poll are in - and it's a tie! Your favorite Shabana Azmi movies are Mandi and Masoom; each of these received 12 votes. Following in second place is Fire, with eight votes - there had been a three-way tie for a while earlier in the month, before Mandi and Masoom pulled ahead. Arth and Ankur gave a respectable showing, coming in at four and three votes, respectively. Honorable mention to 15 Park Avenue, Parvarish, and Sparsh, which picked up a vote each.

The results of this poll are interesting. I expected Fire to put up a solid showing. SLP has plenty of readers in North America and I suspect that many of these, like me, were first introduced to Shabana ji in Fire. I am also not surprised by the strong showing for Masoom. When I first wrote about this movie on Filmi Geek, I was pleased to learn that it is a popular favorite among desis. People my age fondly remember it from their childhood, and others love it just as strongly; my review of Masoom has received more comments than any other review I've written. So it stands to reason that it would come out on top in a poll like this one.

I am especially intrigued, though, by the strong showing for Mandi. I haven't yet seen this film, and I didn't know it would fare as well as it has in this poll. I'm now looking forward to seeing it - even more than before.

The relatively poor performance of Shabana ji's classic, iconic films like Arth and Ankur is, I think, an artifact of restricting the poll to a single film per voter. I suspect that at least one of these films would make most people's top three.

Of course this is all somewhat artificial, as it's not always meaningful to choose a single "favorite" film. The criteria are vague - is the best film? The one I enjoy the most? The most meaningful? The one closest to my heart? - and the answer can change with shifting moods. Still, it was a fun poll, and I thank you all for voting. I have a much more interesting question in mind for the next poll, so you can look for that in the beginning of November - work permitting.

October poll: you can only pick one; life isn't fair

Polls seem to be the in thing these days, so I've put one over in the sidebar. And since today is the first of the month, if it's a success I'll contemplate making it a regular, monthly feature. The not-terribly-creative question of the day is: what is your favorite of Shabana Azmi's films?

I know, dreadful question. I'll try to come up with better ones in the future - so if you want to see better questions, cast a vote in this pedestrian poll and I'll consider myself motivated to veer away from the obvious, next time.

I couldn't list all 140 of them so I've selected a number that I think, based on several factors, are most likely to gather votes - films that are my favorites, films that I've heard other people describe as their favorites. Still, if I've left your favorite off, please use the comments to tell me where I went wrong.

Here's the list for the poll:

15 Park Avenue
Ankur
Arth
Amar Akbar Anthony
Fire
Godmother
Mandi
Masoom
Morning Raga
Parvarish
Sparsh
Swami

And now I could claim executive privilege and wimp out of answering the question myself, but I won't. Although it's not the best film on the list, my sentimental choice is Fire. In addition to being a lovely movie (though I think I've seen it too many times at this point), it was my first introduction to Shabana ji, and it is the sine qua non of SLP, of Filmi Geek, and of my interest in Hindi movies generally.

Honorable mention to Ankur, Arth, and Godmother - one each for the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I'm not sure how I'd choose among those if you made me pick my favorite of Shabana ji's Hindi films.

Now, please, register your vote in the sidebar (right below the recent comments feed) and let me know your thought process, in the comments.



I know, I know - an uncreative answer to an uncreative question.