Screenwriter Anjum Rajabali recalls fond memories of Shaukat Kaifi, who passed away at her home in Juhu yesterday
Reema Gehi (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 23, 2019)

Theatre artiste and actress Shaukat Kaifi passed away in her home in Juhu at 5 pm on Friday after suffering a cardiac arrest. Kaifi, the mother of actress Shabana Azmi and cinematographer Baba Azmi, was 91 and had been unwell for some time. Her funeral procession will leave from 25, Janki Kutir, at 3 pm today, and end at Sunni Kabrastan, four Bungalows.

An anecdote that still fills screenwriter Anjum Rajabali’s heart to the brim is one that the inimitable actor Shabana Azmi shared after the launch of her mother Shaukat Kaifi’s autobiography, ‘Kaifi and I’. The book, the motley crew learnt, was lauded by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. The launch was to be followed by lunch and a particularly pleased Shaukat aapa (as she was fondly addressed) changed soon enough into a beautiful saree. Her daughter apparently commented, ‘No one changes just for a simple lunch!’ And pat came Shaukat aapa’s response, ‘Yes, but not everyone gets a message for their book by someone like Amartya Sen’. “That was Shaukat aapa for you,” says Rajabali, also a close friend of her son and daughter-in-law Baba and Tanvi Azmi. “She always had this child-like innocence.”

This attribute shone in the play ‘Kaifi Aur Main’ – her book that was adapted for the stage in 2006, on the fourth death anniversary of Kaifi Azmi – and where her daughter essayed the role of Shaukat, while her husband, veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar, essayed the role of the iconoclast Kaifi Azmi. The play was directed by Ramesh Talwar and produced by the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA). Both Kaifi and Shaukat were greatly involved in the activities of IPTA Bombay, as it was known then. For many years, the couple lived with their two children in a rather tiny accommodation provided by the Communist Party of India. Kaifi, Shaukat and their children shared the apartment with three other families, who like them had communist leanings and interests in theatre as well as cinema. Through them, Shaukat was drawn to theatre and films. Although she’s known for her role as Khanum Jaan in the 1981-film Umrao Jaan, Shaukat played an instrumental part in quite few of Prithviraj Kapoor’s Prithvi Theatre – she acted in Shakuntala and Deewar, and IPTA Bombay’s Dhani Banke, Africa Jawan Pareshan, Aazar ka Khwab and Tanhai.

But according to Rajabali, “it’s her generosity, openness and sense of humour which truly stands out.” “She wasn’t merely Kaifi Azmi’s wife or Shabana Azmi’s mother; she was a great achiever in her own right,” he insists. When Kaifi saab’s work in cinema picked up, the family’s fortunes changed, “but their homes were still an open house; and it was Shaukat aapa who was really the soul.”

“The ease and generosity with which I have seen her interact with people coming from such humble backgrounds is the same as she would interact with the intellectuals, writers, theatrewallas and filmmakers,” says Rajabali. “She didn’t have a calculating bone in her body. All her relationships were personal. With each person, she had a unique emotional equation. She remembered everyone’s peculiarities, including mine.”


(clockwise) Shaukat, Baba, Tanvi, Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar

Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; December 19, 2018)

January 14, 2019, will mark the centenary birth anniversary of renowned Urdu poet, writer and activist Kaifi Azmi. To commemorate the occasion, his daughter, actress Shabana Azmi has planned year-long celebrations, which will include mushairas, plays, seminars, a pen festival and three book releases.

It will start with ‘Raag Shayari’, a special evening of music and Kaifi’s poetry starring Ustad Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan, Javed Akhtar and Shabana. While Shankar will sing a selection of Kaifi’s poems, Javed will recite them in Urdu and Shabana will translate them in English. “It was Javed’s idea. For Kaifi, the central point is poetry. Through this programme, the attempt is to make his poetry accessible to people who don’t necessarily understand Urdu. That is the key point. With Shankar singing it, Zakir interpreting it and Javed reciting the original poetry, it would become an experience to cherish and have an archival value,” says Shabana.

Being sensitive
The award-winning actress has been planning the event and putting together the schedule for the year-long celebrations since January. “It’s important for me that the 100th year is celebrated with sensitivity and respect for the kind of work he did. Obviously, there will be many programmes throughout the year created especially for the centenary celebration, but ‘Raag Shayari’ will be the premiere event. The people on board are those with whom I have a deep emotional connect. I have worked with Feroz (Abbas Khan), who helmed Tumhari Amrita, for so many years. He is directing this show, too. I have a lot of respect for the aesthetics of Anuradha Parikh, who is doing the production design. Zakir has given the music of some of the films that I have done, his father Ustad Allah Rakha and Kaifi were friends and worked together. Now, their children are coming together for this tribute,” says the actress.

Tribute to an icon
Talking about Shankar being a part of the event, she says the singer’s maiden single, Breathless, was written by Javed and it was also the first music video that Farhan and Zoya Akhtar creatively did together. Shabana’s brother Baba Azmi was the cameraman while Bijon Das Gupta, who is their family friend, did the production design.

“‘Raag Shayari’ is about great artistes paying a tribute to a person they admire and love,” she says. When asked if there were any plans to televise the event, Shabana informs they didn’t want commerce to enter into it. “It was to create an evening to cherish, to have archival value, so we haven’t thought about it. But, we will surely record it,” she says. The first show will be held next year on January 13 at NCPA (Nariman Point), the second at St Andrew’s (Bandra) on December 14, on Kaifi’s birth anniversary while the third will be on December 17 in Kolkata to commemorate Javed’s birthday.

Besides this, on February 2, 100 special edition fountain pens will be launched. “The only material thing my father used was a Mont Blanc fountain pen and his communist party card, so it is befitting that a pen is released in his name,” reveals Shabana.

A documentary, Kaifinama, directed by Sumantra Ghosal is in the works. They will also stage a play Kaifi Aur Main, which will have Javed essaying Kaifi while Shabana will enact her mother, Shaukat. “Jaswinder Singh will be singing my father’s songs and poems, and we are planning many performances,” shares the actress. A retrospective of his films like Heer Raanjha, which the celebrated poet wrote in verse, Naseem, in which he acted, and Garam Hawa, a definitive film on Partition that won the National Award, will be held.

A 300-seater Kaifi Azmi Kala Kendra or auditorium designed by M S Sathyu will be unveiled in Lucknow where the activist spent a major part of his life. “There is also a great need for an auditorium there and this one is like no other,” she says proudly. At his birthplace, Mijwan, where he founded an NGO, which is now run by Shabana, a film on her father, will be shown. “What will be more special is that children from our school and college will be involved in several shows. Kaifi looked upon the youth. He had great expectations and hope from them,” she says.

The celebrations will end with the Mijwan fashion show at the end of the year. “It is also Mijwan’s 10th anniversary, so I am hoping to do something spectacular for that, too,” signs off Shabana.


The Raag Shayari team