Showing posts with label Godmother. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Godmother. Show all posts
Women are largely relegated to playing the victim, moll or seductress-Shabana Azmi
8:05 AM
Thrilled about Dabba Cartel winning praise, Shabana Azmi says the all-female crime drama was a gamble as the genre is rarely led by women in India
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; April 2, 2025)
Rich praise has been a frequent feature in Shabana Azmi’s career. It’s not surprising then that the actor’s latest release, Dabba Cartel, continues to be appreciated over a month after it began streaming. “The response I’m personally receiving is overwhelming,” she exclaims.
With Dabba Cartel, director Hitesh Bhatia has given us an unusual crime drama where five women—portrayed by Azmi, Jyotika, Nimisha Sajayan, Shalini Pandey and Anjali Anand—ingeniously run a drug cartel under the guise of a food delivery service.
Azmi shares, “The answer to its success lies in its writing. Plus, the director was clear in his vision. Also, a special thumbs up to Shibani [Akhtar, creator] who didn’t ask for favours just because she is Farhan’s [Akhtar, producer] wife.” Tell her it’s being referred to as the Indian version of Breaking Bad, and she says, “I haven’t seen Breaking Bad. So, I can’t comment.”
The Netflix series’ potential was not lost on her when she read the script. But the senior actor considered it a gamble. “We never thought that a women-led crime drama would become so popular. It was a gamble that paid off. I call it a gamble because there are no women-led crime drama series [in India]. Women are largely relegated to playing the victim, moll or seductress.”
Leading the drug ring is Azmi’s Sheilaben, a cold and calculative woman. Was it tough to play such a restrained character, emoting through one’s silences?
“Experience helps an actor to calibrate the performance. I worked on the look and added the Gujarati dialect to make her more interesting. The most challenging bit was that I had to play her differently from Godmother [1999]. Sheila’s power is more muted,” she reflects.
With Dabba Cartel, her daughter-in-law Shibani has forayed into writing. The Akhtar fold is populated with writers, beginning with Javed Akhtar, his filmmaker-children Farhan and Zoya as well as their mother Honey Irani.
Asked if she has ever considered penning a script, Azmi says, “I can never write. It’s a specialized skill and not everyone can do it, although many try it almost in a cavalier fashion. I come from a writer’s family and have the highest regard for writers. I’m happy being an actor.”
I would’ve been at the top had things been easy for star kids-Raima Sen
8:12 AM
Shreya Mukherjee (HINDUSTAN TIMES; September 25, 2020)
Whoever you are and wherever you come from, everyone has their share of struggle,” says actor Raima Sen. The daughter of yesteryear actor Moon Moon Sen, and granddaughter of veteran actor late Suchitra Sen, Raima says if star kids had it easy in the film industry, each one of them would’ve been successful.
“Had things been that easier, I would’ve been at the top, too,” she asserts, admitting that she got her first break in Bollywood with Godmother (1999) because she was Moon Moon Sen’s daughter. “But, that was it. I did not get 100 film offers immediately after that. I had to struggle, and I’m still trying hard. In between, I worked in Bengali films. Bollywood does appreciate regional films and actors, they do recognize me for Chokher Bali (2002) and The Japanese Wife (2010), but that isn’t the criteria to get Hindi films,” she explains.
According to Raima, it’s the survival of the fittest and ultimately, everything boils down to talent. “If you’ve got talent, you’ll find a way. There are many star kids who couldn’t make it. You are no one if your film doesn’t work. Star kids who’ve survived are much better performers than many others, they deserve credit,” she says.
The actor goes on to say that it’s not always about playing lead roles or screen time. “You get recognized in smaller roles, too. You can cry nepotism and all, but only if you have it in you, you get it. There’s no two ways about it. Yes, it’s difficult to make it in Bollywood, but it isn’t easy in any profession. You can’t think I’ll become number one without doing anything,” she adds.
There have also been talks about groupism and favouritism in Bollywood, with many claiming that only insiders or those connected with certain groups get noticed. Raima somewhat agrees, but is quick to add, “I’ve never been a part of any (group), nor do I go to such parties. Films don’t come to you because you attend such parties, your capability gets you work.”
I told I’d prefer Dilip Kumar and Shabana Azmi projected herself more dramatically in Godmother-Vinay Shukla
8:01 AM
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 20, 2018)
What can I say about an actress par excellence, a fiery activist, a Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee with five National Awards, that hasn’t been said or heard before? So, I turned to Vinay Shukla, writer-director of Godmother, to introduce us to the Shabana Azmi he’s known for 45 years.
The actress who brought in her 68th birthday on Tuesday, was his junior at FTII and they met on the set of Parinay, a film she’d signed even before Ankur. It was directed by Kantilal Rathod who’d earlier bagged the National Award for Best Feature Film in Gujarati for his 1969 social drama Kanku. Parinay, too, got the Rajat Kamal Special Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration, with Shabana and Romesh Sharma in the lead. Shukla recalls that they were filming at the IIM campus in Ahmedabad and when he went to call Shabana for a shot, he discovered that she’d gone for a spin in the car she was to drive. “Perhaps she wanted to get a hang of the car, and was back with it in 10 minutes but being a hot-headed, young assistant, I shouted at her and she hollered right back. It was on this tempestuous note that our friendship began,” he chuckles.
The veteran filmmaker admits that back then, he didn’t think actresses contributed much to the storytelling till he watched Shabana and Romesh play out a dramatic scene. “Without her histrionics, my words would’ve remained just words,” says Shukla who, because of his command over Hindi and flair for writing, was often asked to rewrite scenes and lines. “Thanks to Shabana and Romesh, I got credit for the screenplay and additional dialogue.”
The bond strengthened over the years and one day, Shabana complained that he’d never written a script for her and Shukla shared an idea. “The title itself excited her and she urged me to write the script,” he narrates, adding that he was inspired by a woman, Jina Masi, whose husband sold liquor illegally during Prohibition and worked as a liaison between Haji Mastan and Karim Lala who ruled the underworld. “She’d turn up at the Gamdevi police station and abuse the cops if her courier boys were apprehended. I’d wonder what would happen if she entered politics when I learnt of a woman politician in Gujarat and decided to merge the two to come up with my Godmother who ruled in Gujarat,” he flashbacks.
Shabana loved the script and began working on her Godmother, borrowing the way he gestured with his left hand during a narration. “She asked me if I wanted her to play the character in an understated way like Naseeruddin Shah in Manthan or like Dilip Kumar in Ganga Jumna. For me Ganga Jumna is one of the best performances I’ve seen, a judicious mix of a real and larger-than-life character. I told I’d prefer Dilip Kumar and she projected herself more dramatically,” he says.
Godmother bagged six National Awards — Best Actress (Shabana), Best Music Direction (Vishal Bhardwaj), Best Lyrics (Javed Akhtar), Male Playback Singer (Sanjeev Abhyankar), Best Editing (Renu Saluja) and Best Feature Film in Hindi. “Aapne to chhakka maar diya,” Vishal told Shukla who’s often been asked to come up with a prequel or sequel to the film, but for him that’s a closed chapter. “I’ve scripted a whodunnit, that I hope to make with Shabana now,” he says.
I am interested in the solution, not in holding on to the problem-Shabana Azmi
7:41 AM
As she turns 66, Shabana Azmi on how she has mellowed down over the years...
Subhash K Jha (DNA; September 18, 2016)
Shabana Azmi’s had a career most actresses her age would be envious of. She’s constantly and bravely gone against the grain and accepted norm to deliver performances that in retrospect, will go down in history, as part of her rather strong legacy. Also, she is one to call a spade a spade and doesn’t mince words when getting her point across. As she turns 66 and we sit down to have a conversation, one cannot think of any other actress who has impacted mainstream and arthouse cinema as profoundly as she has. Excerpts...
It’s been a good year, right?
It has. The appreciation I received for Neerja, particularly from my industry colleagues, made me wonder if I had done anything worthwhile before! It was overwhelming.
Do you see the challenging roles coming your way at the pace you’d like?
I do think it’s a golden period for actors because all kinds of films are being made: mainstream, parallel, middle-of-the-road, independent films, etc. I’m doing comedy, drama, negative roles, etc. Earlier, I largely had dramatic, heroic roles on my plate. At one point Aparna Sen said to me, “Your off-screen persona is becoming so dominant that your choice of roles will get affected.” That remark set me thinking because I’ve been trained in the Stanislavsky Method that says an actor should be able to prefix the words, ‘If I were..a queen, a slum dweller, a whore..’ And be able to inhabit the world of that character with truth.
Do you choose roles only when they match your own political aesthetic and moral sensibilities?
It’s a difficult choice. When I did Godmother, feminists were annoyed with me. They said, ‘We want women to enter politics, but if someone like you plays a woman politician who is corrupt, you hurt our cause’. I tried explaining that the director Vinay Shukla was looking at the film from the lens of caste politics, not gender politics. Plus, it was a layered part that doesn’t come one’s way that often. From then on, I decided that I would do a variety of roles, provided of course, that they didn’t promote patriarchy or communalism.
Which are the films you’re working on right now?
I’ve just completed Piyush Panjuani’s Idgah, based on Munshi Premchand’s story of the same name. We shot in Gulmarg and I was happy to be filming there after so many years. The place was teeming with tourists and it seemed normalcy had finally returned to the Kashmir Valley. Within days of our pack-up, the peace was shattered as if kisiki nazar lag gayi. Heart-wrenching. I’ve also just completed an American production Signature Move, directed by Jennifer Reeder and executive produced by Michael Shannon who played Elvis in the film Elvis & Nixon.
What else?
What do you mean,what else? Aur kitna karoon? I’m carrying on with theatre productions — IPTA’s Kaifi Aur Main and Alyque Padamsee’s Broken Images, written by Girish Karnad. I’m also doing a TV serial Amma, where I play a mafia don.
As you grow a year older, what emotional changes do you see within yourself?
I have mellowed and am interested in the solution, not in holding on to the problem. I am willing to really listen to the other person’s point of view. I believe that dialogue must remain the only option to resolving problems. I also party very little and prefer to hang out with my family and close circle of friends. In fact, I’m becoming more of a ghar ghussad (homebody) than ever before. I travel so much that I have little energy for the social scene.
How has Indian society changed, according to you?
Indian society is in a position of transition. Women are coming into their own, but violence against women has the tacit approval of societies all over the world. Men are mostly stuck in their sense of entitlement because we continue to be a patriarchal society. It worries me also that communalism is getting more deeply entrenched in our society because political parties continue to use it as a tool for vote- bank politics.
You have always been one of the strongest voices of protest in our country. What is the one issue that bothers you the most among our many societal failings?
Social injustice. That people continue to be passive recipients rather than active participants in the democratic process. That the development model successive governments have adopted over the years has led to a greater divide between the rich and the poor. That after 70 years we still haven’t been able to provide drinking water, housing, education, health services to all. That GDP continues to be the yardstick of progress rather than the human development index.
What makes heroes and role models so scarce in our country?
Heroes are created by either a great ideology or a great struggle. At present, all over the world, we see an absence of both. That’s why we don’t have heroes like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr or Nelson Mandela who used non-violence as the only alternative for freedom. Today, Donald Trump is in the running for a position once held by Lincoln! They don’t make them like that anymore. Democracy, as necessary as it is — and I wouldn’t trade it for any other system — has an inherent flaw. Electoral politics forces leaders to take short-term populist decisions that can get them re-elected. But real development can only happen when you plan 20 to 50 years ahead. It’s also necessary that successive governments do not reverse projects that have been put in place by previous governments. And please, let history not become a handmaiden of the political dispensation of the day!
How do you look back at your marriage to Javed?
With satisfaction and gratitude. There is no person other than Javed that I would have rather been married to. He makes me laugh, he makes me think, he pushes me to push myself but basically that he and I share the same worldview. Touchwood, a thousand times over.
Finally, if you had to change one thing in your life, what would it be?
That I would learn how to cook!
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