I don't want to dwell too much on the hot mess that is MF Husain's Gaja Gamini. I have not spared the movie in my new review on Filmi Geek, and you can go read it over there.
Here at Sounds Like Power, the focus is on Shabana Azmi. I can only guess that it is respect for MF Husain that led her (and other actors of similar stature) to sign on to this project. I wonder if she had seen the script or understood Husain's so-called vision. The movie is regressive, objectifying claptrap masquerading unconvincingly as feminist empowerment. It's utter nonsense.
However, it is only two hours long, is full of Madhuri Dixit looking gorgeous, has some very nice music, and is probably worth sitting through for the Shabana Azmi completist (if there happens to be another such in the world, besides myself). After all, Shabana ca. 2000 may be the most gorgeous Shabana there is.
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It's that time of year again, when Sounds Like Power issues a very, very warm happy birthday greeting to Shabana Azmi.
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:
If you don't follow me on Twitter, you missed this exchange yesterday:
[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.
Shabana Azmi arms herself against internet stalkers who maintain fan websites in her honor.
This week's Shabana-gaana is from Atithee (1978), a movie I have not seen.
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 ...
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?
Salman Rushdie has posted stills from Deepa Mehta's upcoming adaptation of his book Midnight's Children to an album on Facebook.
... 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.
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.
I finally finished my review of Basu Chatterjee's 1980 movie Apne paraye - you can read the review on Filmi Geek. I was somewhat disappointed with the movie but Shabana Azmi's performance was one of its strong points. Her expression was able to add nuance to her characterization that was missing from the dialog alone.
Here at Sounds Like Power, though, we are all about the pretty. And so here are some gratuitous screen captures from the film, for your enjoyment!
One thing that seems to be true of Basu Chatterjee - he (well, his costume designers) seem to love draping Shabana ji in an endless parade of gorgeous saris. I once tried to count all the different saris in Swami - I lost count around 14, all vibrant and lovely with wonderful detail work. Apne paraye offers almost that many. Sartorially, at least, the movie does not disappoint!
A quiet few weeks here as my real life once again drags me away from the blog. I am 2/3 of the way through Kaifi & I and have a few things to say about it when I get time.
I managed to watch Basu Chatterjee's 1980 film Apne paraye, which stars Shabana Azmi with Amol Palekar, Utpal Dutt, Girish Karnad, and a few others. I'll review it on Filmi Geek soon. In the meantime, it provides a Shabana-gaana for us, this sweet and sad lullaby "Halke halke aai chalke."
I saw this press release the other day that reported Shabana Azmi taking enthusiastic part in a book launch for "well-known homeopath Dr. Mukesh Batra." (I have shamelessly cropped Dr. Batra and others out of the above picture; please follow the link to see it.) Shabana ji said at the event that she believes in homeopathy, and praised Dr. Batra for helping relieve her pain and speeding the healing when she suffered a leg fracture. She also credited him for her beautiful skin.
The press release gave me pause. To me, the word "homeopathy" refers to the use of hyper-dilute "solutions" in which nothing is left of any active ingredient other than some mystical molecular memory. I believe this is utter quackery, snake oil of the lowest order. It includes such arrant nonsense as the claim that these solutions become more effective as they become more dilute. In short, I think it's rubbish, and that purveyors of it should be prosecuted, not praised.
But I did some research before sitting down to write this post, because I know that the term "homeopathy" has a broader usage as well, that refers to a wider variety of what we in the West sometimes call "alternative" medicine, natural medicine, or holistic medicine. That is far too broad of a scope for me (even as a fairly narrow-minded rationalist) to dismiss out of hand. Reading the press release, it sounds to me like Shabana ji, Dr. Batra, and his book are using the word in this broader sense. I did a sanity check with an Indian friend of mine, who also understood the word that way (and spoke very highly of her own experience with practitioners).
If Shabana ji believes that she has been helped by such natural and holistic remedies, I have no quibble with that, and no concern for either her good sense or her well-being. I would worry about someone who would reject scientifically-developed treatments for serious ailments - I wouldn't mess around with cancer, for example - but for pain remedies, or mild stimulation, or treating cold symptoms and the like, I can readily believe that natural remedies are often as effective (if not more so in some cases) than pharmaceuticals. So, it was just the term "homeopathy" - its two very different meanings - that threw me in this case.
This video puff piece has some more about Shabana ji's relationship with Dr. Batra, and some clips of both Shabana ji and Javed Akhtar looking wonderful.
The Times of India yesterday had this report with more information about how Shabana Azmi spent her birthday at her new Khandala home, named Sukoon ("peace, tranquility"). Lots of fascinating people stopped by to pay their respects. In the picture above you can see Nandita Das with her little child, and Konkona Sen Sharma. To our right of Shabana ji is, I believe, Sandhya Mridul. And that fellow over on the end ... the text says it's Anil Kapoor, and it does look like him - 30 years ago though. Perhaps it's the youthful clothes ... at any rate, a very flattering picture.
Also present, according to the report: Urmila Matondkar, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Poonam Dhillon, and a bunch of others. (Perhaps one of these years I'll get myself invited.) One thing I'll say, I love the way that many of the younger women Shabana ji has worked with - Urmila, Nandita, Konkona, Sandhya among them - remain close to her years after those projects. It's lovely, and it speaks to what a marvelous mentor and friend she must be.
