Shabana Azmi was recently in Vadodara to attend a literature festival organised by a citybased university. At the event, she said, “Main ek writer (Kaifi Azmi) ki beti, writer (Javed Akhtar) ki biwi aur writer (Jan Nisar Akhtar) ki bahu hoon! I am often asked if I ever felt the urge to write. Toh main kehti hoon ki main unn ki inspiration hoon! Literature is the basis of all art forms.”

Shabana, who is all set to work with Prateik Babbar on a new film and was recently seen in a romantic comedy directed by Shekhar Kapur, says, “Working with Shekhar Kapur after 40 years was a great experience (the actress last worked with the director in his debut film, Masoom, 1983). We shot in London when the pandemic was at its peak and my family was quite worried. Shekhar went out of his way to ensure that everyone was happy on set. I was thrilled to work with Emma Thompson, whom I’ve always admired as an actress and activist. I believe an artiste’s job is not just to entertain, but also provoke. We followed strict protocol and completed the shoot in 40 days. I am glad that the film was received well.”

She adds, “The Hindi film industry has certainly changed for the better. Earlier, we would spend three months in pre-production and shoot a film for two years. Now, one year is spent in pre-production and the shooting is completed in a year. Many actors do just one project at a time and that allows them to work on transforming their look. Main humesha bolti hoon, Aamir Khan ke cupboard mein alag alag jism rakhe hue hai, jo woh utha ke pehen leta hai, when he starts a new film (laughs)!”

She adds, “Also, casting directors are playing a very important role by casting terrific actors from small towns and ensuring that we move away from stereotypical characters.”

The National Award-winning actress is happy with the way actresses are now getting to play central characters in movies on a regular basis. She says, “I love the fact that our actresses are now keen on doing roles where the film is centred around them. While doing such central characters, they often have to take a pay cut too and a lot of people might question, ki aisa kyun kar rahi ho? These actresses should think that by making this sacrifice, woh log raasta bana rahe hain, jahaan aage jaa ke there will be much-needed pay parity.”

Asked about the impact of OTT, she shares, “While I don’t know how long it will last, OTT has certainly changed the viewing patterns in a big way. So, while films that promise a big spectacle might draw audiences to theatres, people prefer to watch realistic films on OTT. ”

Talking about the trend of boycotting films on social media, Shabana says, “Yeh boycott wale bahut udd rahe thay, lekin Pathaan ki success ke baad chup ho gaye. Trolling doesn’t bother me at all. Most of these trolls don’t have even 10 followers. Toh woh jo bhi bakwaas kar rahe hain on social media, why should we bother about it?”

We shared a great bond with Satish Kaushik and it’s heartbreaking that he left us so early. Javed (Akhtar) saab humesha kehte hain, Satish ko log achha comedian samajhte hain, but he was so good in all kinds of roles. He was a fantastic human and I love that Anupam Kher decided to celebrate his life (by organizing a musical night on his birth anniversary).

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