Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; July 27, 2017)

Shabana Azmi is counted among the best actors in the country. She is one of the pioneers in changing people’s perception towards unconventional or parallel cinema. Actresses of the younger generation are making interesting choices and Shabana is all for it. “It gives me great pride to see heroines settle for no less than a hero in films. It would be a far-fetched distant dream years back. I’m glad it’s happening now,” Azmi says.

‘She is an original performer’
When asked who she sees shades of herself in today’s breed of heroines, she mentions Alia. She says, “I think a lot of the heroines are making very good choices. But what I like about Alia Bhatt is that she is a very fine actor and her work isn’t an imitation of any other previous actor. That she is an original performer works wonderfully for her. Plus, she has a mixture of strength and vulnerability, which is very attractive. Apart from all this, she has the brains to do roles in which she has very important central roles to play and also balance it out with some really good mainstream Hindi cinema like Badrinath Ki Dulhania and others.”

Balancing art and box office
Azmi admits that balancing the two sides is a ‘very, very sagacious’ decision that today’s actresses should be making. “If you start believing in your own myth that you are this great actor and you cannot do something which is not of the same calibre, then you are in deep trouble. It also starts narrowing down the choices you make. So, it’s very wise to do films where you can exhibit your acting talent and at the same time do mainstream commercial cinema, which keeps your value up as a star instead of becoming totally exclusive, which is what happened with most, particularly, girls. Once they start being recognised for doing strong roles, then they completely cut away from mainstream cinema which I think isn’t a wise step,” cautions Shabana. However, Alia is doing a fine balancing act.