Shabana Azmi
- Actress
- Music Department
- Producer
One of the leading lights of the 1965-1990's Indian New Wave,
Shabana Azmi (alongside the late
Smita Patil) was one of the main female
actors who dominated the films of the so-called "Parallel Cinema" in
India in the 1970s and 1980s. Born to noted Urdu progressive poet and
lyricist Kaifi Azmi and theatre actress
Shaukat Azmi, Shabana has acted in films by
virtually all of India's most famous art-house directors including
Shyam Benegal,
Satyajit Ray,
Mrinal Sen,
Aparna Sen and others, as well as in
commercial and middle-of-the-road Hindi films, where she has essayed
several strong female characters (e.g., in
The Death Sentence: Mrityu Dand (1997)
and Godmother (1999)). Shabana Azmi was
paired opposite Rajesh Khanna in 7
successful films.She is noted for her naturalness and intensity
on-screen, matched by her fierce advocacy of the rights of women,
minorities and slum-dwellers off-screen, both through activism and in
her role as a Member of Parliament, where her consistent stand in
defense of liberal values and the freedom of expression is noteworthy.
She has also acted on stage to considerable acclaim, most notably in
Tumhari Amrita with Farookh Sheikh. She is married to noted
scriptwriter and lyricist
Javed Akhtar.
Hansal Mehta’s Favourite Indian Female Actors
Hansal Mehta’s Favourite Indian Female Actors
"A list written in admiration, and sometimes, awe," he writes.
