This picture of Azmi with a young Prateik Babbar was taken at Smita Patil’s sister’s Chicago home

Sharing screen space with the late Smita Patil remains among the most cherished memories of Shabana Azmi’s acting career. The two powerhouse performers gave Hindi cinema some of its most compelling movies in Nishant (1975), Arth (1982), Mandi (1983) and Oonch Neech Beech (1989). Today, as Azmi shares screen space with Patil’s son Prateik Babbar in Imaginary Rain, she marvels at the “surreal” nature of it all.

“It was deeply emotional for me to shoot with Prateik. He bears an uncanny resemblance to Smita. When he smiles, he looks exactly like her,” shares the senior actor. Ever since Babbar kicked off his acting career with Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (2008), Azmi knew it was only a matter of time before they would be cast together. Celebrated chef Vikas Khanna’s directorial venture made her wish come true. 

“Prateik and I being cast together at some point was inevitable, given that Smita and I did so many films together. I was touched because Smita’s elder sister Anita Patil, who has been my friend for over 35 years, flew down from Mumbai to watch the first day of our shoot [in Amritsar].”

Babbar plays a cab driver in Imaginary Rain, which is a screen adaptation of director Khanna’s novel of the same name and chronicles his grandmother’s journey after she opened a restaurant in New York. 

“Prateik and I were to do a Faraz Ansari film, which was postponed. So, we were able to shoot Imaginary Rain. Prateik is a disciplined actor. There is a shot in which he cried naturally. He said he has never been able to do that before. He also told me he wants to sink his teeth into meaty roles, irrespective of their length. That’s an actor talking,” smiles Azmi.

Often, filmmakers’ creations are inspired by their personal lives. Renowned chef-turned-director Vikas Khanna’s next, Imaginary Rain, too stems from an intimate part of his life. The film, which is adapted from his novel of the same name, is borrowed from his grandmother’s journey.

Shabana Azmi, who plays the protagonist, begins, “Beeji, Vikas’s grandmother, ran a small restaurant in New York where she was not respected because she was a woman. Also, there was no respect for Indian cuisine at the time. How she goes from there to hitting the headlines of The New York Times [forms the story].”

The senior actor has often joked about her lack of culinary skills. Playing a chef-restaurateur hasn’t come easy. “Of course, I had to take lessons from Vikas,” she exclaims. “He is so particular even about how you hold the vegetable to get the right cut. He even showed me how to peel potatoes. What is most inspiring about Vikas is his passion for life and food. His desire to put Indian cuisine on the world map [drove him] to become the first Indian Michelin star chef.”

The second schedule of the drama, which also stars Prateik Babbar and Kanwaljit Singh, is slated for June.

Azmi and Khanna’s equation goes well beyond the movie. Keen to raise funds for the actor’s NGO Mijwan Welfare Society, the chef-director has tied up with SpiceJet airlines to whip up culinary delights as part of the on-board menu. The sale proceeds will go to the NGO.

Delighted by his gesture, Azmi says, “Vikas helped us immensely during the pandemic. He has been working on the SpiceJet initiative quietly for six months, and I only got to know about it the day before its launch.”