After crooning two Rabindra Sangeets live, the actress who is gearing up for a talk at the House of Lords, will have to take music lessons again to play Jaddanbai
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 7, 2017)


Even though Shabana Azmi insists that she is not a singer and only has a ear for music she managed to impress the late Pandit Ravi Shankar and singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan with her renditions in Mahesh Dattani’s 2004 film, Morning Raga, with the sitar maestro calling to tell her he couldn’t believe she was not a trained Carnatic singer. She recently sang two Rabindra Sangeets, “Aaji jharer raate” and “Sokhi andhare” for Aparna Sen’s upcoming directorial, Sonata.

“First Aparna casts me as a whimsical, childish, highly volatile Bengali woman, then she bullies me into singing two Tagore songs, live, on the set. It was the most terrifying experience and I could only do it because my coach, Sharoni Sen, tutored me so patiently. Aparna kept up the charade that we’d be recording in a studio till we were three-four days into the shoot and then revealed her secret,” says Shabana, who has still to listen to the songs despite encouraging feedback from Bengalis.

Now, Nandita Das wants her to sing for the Manto biopic in which she plays Nargis’s mother, filmmaker-actress-composer-singer Jaddanbai. “I don’t know yet if it will be in a performance with musical accompaniments or if I’ll have to croon live again. I’m already terribly nervous,” she admits.

Shabana is equally nervous about speaking at the House of Lords in London, on March 9, on identity and integration. She points out that its a relevant topic in today’s times when there is an upsurge all over the world about what constitutes identity. “There’s a huge struggle against forces that seek to make us toe the line,” asserts Shabana, who believes that in any country that claims to be a democracy, the bottomline has to be about embracing dissension and plurality. “You may disagree with another person’s opinion and are free to debate it hotly, but with words, not violence. Identity and integration are crucial in the wake of Brexit, Donald Trump’s win in the US and in Narendra Modi’s government. There is an attempt to make a binary out of what constitutes national and anti-national. In George Bush’s words, ‘Either you are with us or you are against us.’ I’m a proud Indian but that doesn’t mean I’ll say everything is hunky dory. For me, its ‘separate’ but ‘equal’ because identity is not a melting pot in which individual identities can be submerged. It’s like a colourful mosaic in which each piece retains its individuality while contributing to a larger whole.”

She has been to the House of Lords before when she received the Gandhi International Peace Prize. “It seemed solemn, sombre and intimidating initially, not very different from the awe with which I stepped into the Indian Parliament for the first time. And it was unbelievable to be getting this award from Vanessa Redgrave whom one has admired for years. But once I started speaking, I was more relaxed,” she reminisces.

She has Kavi Raz’s The Black Prince, releasing worldwide on May 19 in which she plays Rani Jindan, wife of Ranjit Singh, a feisty historical figure who wrested her son, Duleep Singh, from Queen Victoria. “I just won the Best Actress Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival for it but have yet to see it. It was a struggle speaking Punjabi and ironically now, they want to make me dub my lines in Hindi,” she laughs.

There’s another American production, Jennifer Reeder’s Signature Move whose script was mentored by Robert De Niro at the Tribeca Film Institute. “I play a mother who obsessively looks through her binoculars for a prospective groom for her daughter,” she informs. She plays a different mother, an Earth Mother in Idgah, a story by Premchand. There’s also a children’s film, Kalpavriksh: The Wishing Tree. “It’s a full platter of different dishes and thrilling,” she signs off.
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Meanwhile...

Nandita Das has confirmed that writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar is part of her next directorial, Manto. “Shabana Azmi is acting in it and Javed Akhtar is also a part of the movie,“ said Nandita. 

The actress plays snoopy mum to a closeted lesbian in her international project, Signature Move
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 24, 2016)

After playing Sonam Kapoor’s mother in the Neerja Bhanot biopic, actress-activist Shabana Azmi will be seen in 8 Mile actor Michael Shannon’s American production, Signature Move, which is being directed by filmmaker Jennifer Reeder. The actress told Mirror, “I play a mother who is addicted to TV. After her husband dies, she moves in with her daughter in Chicago and starts keeping a close tab on her life, discovering that she is a lesbian and a Lucha Libre (professional wrestling) wrestler. It’s a fun film.”

The 66-year-old actress also features in the screen retelling of Munshi Premchand’s short story, Idgah, for which she shot earlier this year in Kashmir. The film is currently playing in the Recommends section of the ongoing NFDC Film Bazaar in Goa.

“I went to Kashmir before shooting commenced to get a feel of the place. I play a woman from the hills so my face had to be tanned in a particular way to make it look credible. We shot there in June when it was teeming with tourists. It was good to be back in the Valley — we used to shoot there so often back in the day — but the place was ravaged by protests in the wake of Burhan Wani’s death and a curfew was imposed just three days after we wrapped up our film. We had shot in Gulmarg near an army cantonment because the era in which the story is set is not specified,” Shabana said.

Idgah, which centres on eight-year-old Hamid and the close bond between him and his grandmother, also required her to befriend her debutant co-star, Yohan, director Piyush Panjwani’s nephew, who had never faced the camera before. “He plays Hamid while I’m his grandmother. I invited him to my house and we went to watch The Jungle Book together. I told him he had to speak to me in Hindi as I don’t know English. One day he caught me speaking in English and protested so I told him I was just learning the language. We developed a comfortable relationship which is also crucial to the story,” Shabana recounted, adding that she was initially apprehensive about how a short story could be turned into a feature-length film. “I did a look test, posted it on Twitter and got great feedback. That convinced me to do this film,” she informed.

When asked if collaboration with step-kids, Farhan and Zoya Akhtar, is a possibility in the near future, the actress guffawed, saying that the filmmaker siblings are only interested in her culinary skills. “All they want to know is what I’m cooking for them. And it has to be kebabs and biryani every single time. Once, I served them Thai food and they screamed! They’re still complaining about it after all these years. We keep track of each other’s work but I think it’d be easier for me to convince Steven Spielberg to cast me in a movie than my own children.”

While the world is now hopping on the web content bandwagon, Shabana points out that she featured in a film that was released online almost ten years ago. “I did Waterborne at a time when people wondered why I’d do something like that but I thought the concept was really interesting. Everyone is realising now that the digital platform is making it possible for all kinds of films to be made,” she reasoned.

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!

Hemal Ashar (MID-DAY; August 31, 2016)

It has been a week since Shabana Azmi wrapped up shooting for her role in a lesbian themed movie, Signature Move, set in Chicago (US). Back in Mumbai after a 13-day shoot, Shabana speaks to hitlist about the movie, essentially the story of a Pakistani-American Muslim lesbian, Zaynab, played by Fawzia Mirza, (co-writer of the film), who hides two things from her conservative mother (Shabana) — budding relationship with a Mexican- American woman and growing fascination with Lucha Libre, a form of professional wrestling.

What made you say yes to the film?
It was Fawzia Mirza’s passion and commitment. Then, because I had done Fire earlier, I was comfortable with idea of a lesbian film, though in Signature Move I play a conservative mother, who does not know her daughter (Fawzia) is a lesbian. I thought it was really interesting.

Signature Move has a tiny crew, most of them women…
Yes, there was a ‘different’ kind of vibe on set. Without undermining men, because of so many women, there was a comfort level. Having said that, good filmmaking is always gender-neutral. In fact, the best directors are those that have the ‘yin and yang’ balance within them. I also had a terrific equation with the film’s director, Jennifer Reeder.

It is important that these stories be told.
Absolutely. Fawzia told me there is so little of our voices that are audible. Even in the US, there were two radio shows about this film which were full of prejudice. Yet, today here, when I tell my young friends that I am doing such a project, they say, ‘Oh wow, so cooool!’ This is so different from Fire, those were such troubled times. We see some of this change in our films too, where gay characters are more realistic and not the caricatures that they were earlier.

Is Signature Move a festival film, or intended for theatres?
Oh, I think it will be embraced by festivals first, but be shown at theatres too. It has very good credentials and mentored by Tribeca Films. It is not just a cause kind of film; it is entertaining, has a lot of humour and there are heavyweight names behind the project. Eventually, I hope it comes to India, post its release, which should be March next year.


Fawzia Mirza with her reel love interest, Sari Sanchez

Pakistani filmmaker Fawzia Mirza on her film that deals with homosexuality, and finding solace with her partner Ayesha
Subhash K Jha (DNA; August 23, 2016)

The spirited Fawzia Mirza who is currently shooting Signature Move in Chicago with Shabana Azmi introduces herself as “a lesbian, Muslim, Pakistani, actor, activist, writer, producer, lawyer and creature of passion.” And that’s quite a ferocious fusion of seriously challenging and threatening roles for Fawzia, whose short films and a one-woman play entitled Me, My Mom & Sharmila — a homage to Sharmila Tagore — have stirred debates and incited discussion among South Asians all over the world.

But Fawzia sees no harm in assuming all the roles that she has assigned herself. “I was told by everyone who mattered that it was dangerous for me to an out-of-the-closet lesbian Pakistani in America. But I’ve never played the game by the rules. I wanted to be all the things that I saw myself being. And if some of my roles made other people uncomfortable, so be it. As long as I am comfortable being a Pakistani lesbian, who is also an activist and an actress, I see no reason for anyone to be upset about it.”

Upset, her Pakistani brethren certainly were. This, Fawzia discovered when she went to her country of origin with her play Me, My Mom & Sharmila. “I am a Canadian by birth. But my ties with my heritage in Pakistan are very strong. No one can take away my lineage and my roots from me. I’ve been to Pakistan eight times to visit my relatives. The one occasion when I faced protests and threats in Pakistan was when I took the play there. I couldn’t perform it in areas populated by Punjabis. It was an eye-opener.”

The trollers haven’t made Fawzia’s life easy either. “There is so much hatred on the social network. My initial instincts were to block the ugly attacks on my sexuality, my nationality, my work and my identity. But instead I chose to tackle the hatred, try to reason with it.”

This is when she realised her moves as an individual and an artiste are not going to please everyone. “The threat is everywhere, not just in Pakistan. But that won’t stop me from being the person I am and doing the things I want to do.”

High on her wishlist is a visit to India. “I’ve grown up on tales of India and Bollywood. I’ve never visited India. But I plan to tour the entire country soon, especially now when I’ve worked with Shabanaji. I find my bonding with India stronger than ever. I hope I get a visa to travel in India.”

Fawzia’s mother on whom Shabana’s character in Signature Move is based is the biggest Sharmila Tagore fan. “My play was based on my mother’s adoration of Sharmila. It was an unforgettable moment in my life when Sharmilaji came to see my play in October 2015 in Chicago. Initially, she took notes, then she just watched. It was surreal.”

Fawzia’s mother figures prominently in her film which the filmmaker says is an amalgamation of many people and situations in her life. “I find the cultural diversity in America very fascinating. Not only are Indians and Pakistanis very similar, but even Mexicans are bonded by food and family as we are. The film has characters I know personally.”

Fawzia’s film is also about the Mexican form of wrestling Lucha Libre. She says, “Yes, I find female wrestling such an underrated and misunderstood practice. My character’s lover is a Mexican-American, and that’s where the wrestling comes”.

In real life, Fawzia has found immense solace and peace with her soul mate Ayesha. “She has brought so much happiness and comfort in my life. I am grateful for all that I have. Including the chance to work with the wonderful Shabana Azmi in my first feature film. Jennifer Reeder, who is celebrated for her short films, also makes her feature film directorial debut with Signature Move. I guess I just got lucky.”

Subhash K Jha (DNA; August 16, 2016)


In Pakistani writer-director-actress Fawzia Mirza’s American production entitled Signature Move, Shabana plays mother to a lesbian daughter Fawzia. Fawzia introduces herself as “lesbian, Muslim, Pakistani, actor, activist, writer, producer, lawyer and creature of passion.”

The film, which seems autobiographical, casts Shabana as a mother who watches television soaps all day long and seems oblivious to the fact that her daughter is a lesbian and in a relationship with Mexican girl, who is a wrestler.

Last week, Shabana left for Chicago for the shoot.