BIOGRAPHY
"I am a daughter, a wife, a mother, a woman, an actress, an Indian, and a Muslim. Each of those identities is important to me."
Shabana Azmi, one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema, was born on 1950, to poet-activist, the legendary Kaifi Azmi and Shaukat, a well know stage actress. . Her parents had an active social life, and their home was always throbbing with people and activities. Graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India, she made her debut in Shayam Benegal’s Ankur in 1972 which won the national award. She received the national awards consecutively for three years from 1983 to 1985 for her roles in movies, Arth, Khandhar and Paar. Another film named Godmother (1999) brought her another national award taking her tally to five national awards.
Shabana’s acting has been characterized by a life like real depiction of the roles played by her. She also did many roles in experimental and parallel Indian cinema. Deepa Mehta’s 1996 film Fire depicts her as a lonely woman, theat brought her international recognition with the Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress at the 32nd Chicago Film Festival and Jury Award for Best Actress at Outfest, Los Angeles.
Shabana Azmi is the resurgent face of feminism of modern India. Her social activism and the courage to call a spade a spade, has made her a cut above the rest, of the usual lot of Bollywood stars. Active in fighting AIDS and injustice in real life, she had participated in several plays and demonstrations denouncing communalism. Since 1989, she is a member of the National Integration Council headed by the Prime Minister of India; a member of National AIDS Commission (of India); and was nominated (in 1997) as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. UNFPA had appointed her as its goodwill Ambassador for India, and the Michigan University conferred (in 2002) on her the Martin Luther King Professorship award in recognition of her contribution to arts, culture and society.