With her latest big-screen release, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (RARKPK), international series Halo (2022) and jetting off to Australia to hoist the Indian national flag at the ongoing 2023 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), actor Shabana Azmi is in the busiest phase of her career.

The Padma Bhushan awardee is quick to point out that she has always juggled multiple things, “I have always been doing films and theatre along with activism, and working in villages. But it is only now that people are becoming aware of it. We (lyricist-husband Javed Akhtar and her) travel a lot and it’s always a roller coaster. I keep telling him we need to slow down, but I don’t think we will, just like my father (late poet Kaifi Azmi).”

As for the “privilege” of hoisting the Indian flag and representing the country at IFFM, the 72-year-old shares, “It made me feel very proud. Every time the national anthem is sung, I cry. Aisa ho hi nahin sakta ki main use sunoon aur goosebumps na ho, especially when I hoisted the flag outside the country. I was honoured when they asked me if I would do it, and I jumped at it.”

Azmi shared a kiss with actor Dharmendra in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani that left many surprised. She says, “I suppose nobody had tried it (having a scene with an old couple kissing) before. People accept love between two seniors, but to do it in this way was new. When Karan (Johar, director) narrated the scene, he said the magic words ‘Trust me’. When a director tells me that, main bahut jaldi surrender kar deti hoon. I found the kiss charming. It was a new thing and I am open to new experiences.”