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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In a time when cinemagoers go to theatres only to garner that larger-than-life experience with action-packed and VFX-heavy movies, Shekhar Kapur’s What’s Love Got To Do With It? comes as a breath of fresh air. The Shabana Azmi and Emma Thompson-starrer, with a screenplay by Jemima Khan, was released in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia in February. The cross-cultural romantic comedy that is set to release in India in March opened to great appreciation at international film festivals.

The response didn’t come as a surprise to Kapur and Azmi, despite the release of a Hollywood big-wig—Marvel’s Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania. After missing the London première, Azmi attended the Toronto Film Festival. “We got two standing ovations [at TTF]. At the Jeddah Film Festival, the press gave us good reviews,” says the actor, adding that the film did well in the UK.

“It is a lovely film about identities [made] with a lot of heart. I am keeping my fingers crossed that people in India like it too.”

Kapur, who returns to direction 16 years after his film Elizabeth: The Golden Age, says, “As a filmmaker, when you are working creatively, intensely and passionately, you have to assume that your passion and emotions will be shared by the audiences too. My films have always been appreciated at the film festivals and with the theatre audiences—whether it is Masoom, Mr India, Elizabeth, Four Feather or What’s Love Got To Do With It?” He feels that What’s Love Got To Do With It? has something that is attracting the audiences and competing with the big Hollywood movies.

Azmi claims that besides the lure of working with Kapur and Thompson, she liked the script, which convinced her to come on board. “It is clever, funny, and takes an affectionate look at the Asian community. It shows two cultures so different from each other, without passing judgement, just observations that ring true. Emma loved the film both times she saw it and said, ‘I’m very proud to be a part of it.’ It was too good an offer to resist.”

Kapur informs that the March release has to first be censored in India. “We hope it will happen by next month, and then we can have a summer release. Though OTT platforms have some good stuff, it is nice when a film like What’s Love Got To Do With It? competes theatrically and does well,” he shares, adding that if people talk about What’s Love Got To Do With It? 30 years later, he would consider it a success.

One might be tempted to label What's Love Got To Do With It? as a classic rom-com. But director Shekhar Kapur doesn’t quite think so. “The film asks questions about what love is, where it comes from, [and the role of] family in the modern-day existence,” begins the director. For the cross-cultural love story that travels from London to Lahore, he has brought together a stellar cast, comprising Shabana Azmi, Emma Thompson, Lily James, Sajal Aly and Shazad Latif.

Working with Thompson and Azmi, two actors at the top of their game, is an experience Kapur will treasure for long. “While I have worked with Shabana before [in Masoom], Emma is an iconic actor. So initially, I was wondering how to deal with it. Emma was so welcoming, and spoke admiringly about my earlier films like Bandit Queen [1994]. She is fantastic as a comic actor — she would do something impromptu and bring her own dialogues into the scene, and I would burst out laughing,” he recounts. 

Azmi’s approach towards her craft, he says, is different. “Shabana sticks to the script all the time, but innovates a lot within it. She created her own character, after a lot of discussions about who Aisha Khan is, her graph, and what happened to her before the story starts.”

While most filmmakers and actors place emphasis on workshops, Kapur didn’t pack in too many rehearsals. “Too many rehearsals ultimately dull the performance. With Emma and Shabana, we’d get the perfect shot in the first three takes. The moment I said ‘cut’, the two would go back to laughing and being best friends.”

Adjudged the Best Comedy Film at the Rome Film Festival, What’s Love Got To Do With It? tells the story of a British woman who falls in love with a South Asian man. It’s easy to see that screenwriter Jemima Goldsmith — who fell in love with and married Imran Khan, former prime minister of Pakistan, in the mid-1990s — borrowed elements from her life, for the movie.

“Jemima has had a lot of experiences in Lahore as she got married there. When I read the script, I thought it’s far deeper than a rom-com. Jemima gave [us] space to explore ourselves in a story that she wrote.”

Prior to her lauded act as Aisan Daulat Begum in the period drama, The Empire, Shabana Azmi reunited with her Masoom (1983) director Shekhar Kapur. An upcoming British cross-cultural romantic comedy, What’s Love Got to Do With It? sees her rub shoulders with Emma Thompson in the film set in London and South Asia.

The actor tells mid-day, “Shekhar has always been an actor’s director, and we are always in sync. It feels like no time has passed since we first worked together. He is soft spoken and keeps everyone in good humour. We were working when the effects of the pandemic were at its peak in London. So, it could have been stressful, but the vibe on the sets was upbeat.”

What’s Love Got To Do With It? is written and produced by Jemima Goldsmith, Nicky Kentish, Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan, and co-stars Lily James, Sajal Ali, Shazad Latif, Rob Brydon and Asim Chaudhry. Kapur makes his return to direction 14 years after he won the Oscar for Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007).

Revealing her pleasant interlude with British actor Thomson, Azmi says, “Emma is everything I expected her to be and more—warm, generous, funny and socially conscious. We have been in touch with each other. She has promised to come to India.”

Quiz her on what she finds exciting as an actor, and Azmi says, “There are a plethora of nuanced characters today. For me, the script is more exciting than the part alone. I am aware that a great part can be marred by a weak script. I don’t think the actor can rise above the part. My choices are based on this belief. When I worked with Shirley Mclaine [in Madame Sousatzka] in the late ’80s, we rehearsed one scene from 9 am to 6 pm. At 7.30 pm Shirley turned up at our director John Schlesinger’s house. I was staying there so witnessed that conversation. She had one more idea on how events could unfold.”