Shabana Azmi (Hindi: शबाना आज़मी, Urdu: شبانه عظمي) (born 18 September 1950 in New Delhi, India) is one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema. She is a film actress as well as a social activist, and her performances in films in a variety of genres have generally earned her praises and awards including five wins of National Film Award for Best Actress. She is married to Indian poet Javed Akhtar.
Born 18 September 1950 (1950-09-18) (age 58)
New Delhi, India
Occupation actress
Years active 1972 – present
Spouse(s) Javed Akhtar
Early life and background
Shabana Azmi was born in a Muslim family. Her parents are Kaifi Azmi (a renowned Indian poet) and Shaukat Azmi (a well known stage actress). Her brother, Baba Azmi, is a cinematographer. Her parents had an active social life, and their home was always throbbing with people and activities. Early in childhood, the environment in her home inculcated into her a respect for family ties, social and human values; and her parents always supported her to develop a passion for intellectual stimulation and growth.
She completed a graduate degree in Psychology from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and followed it with a course in Acting at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. She described the reason she decided to attend the film institute, saying, “I had had the privalege of watching Jaya Bhaduri in a (Diploma) film Suman and I was completely enchanted by her performance because it was unlike the other performances I had seen. I really marvelled at that and said, ‘my god, if by going to the Film Institute I can achieve that, that’s what I want to do.’” Azmi eventually topped the list of successful candidates of 1972
Personal life
In the initial stage of her career, she was linked to noted film director Shekhar Kapur. She married Javed Akhtar, a famed lyricist, poet and Bollywood scriptwriter on 9 December 1984. It was Akhtar’s second marriage, the first being with Bollywood scriptwriter, Honey Irani. Indian actresses Farah Naaz and Tabu are her nieces
Select filmography
She has acted in more than one hundred Hindi films, both in the mainstream as well as in parallel cinema. Several of her films have received attention in the international arena, including at the Norwegian Film Institute, the Smithsonian Institution and the American Film Institute. She has appeared in a number of foreign films, most of which have won international acclaim, including John Schlesinger’s Madame Sousatzka, Nicholas Klotz’s Bengali Night, Roland Joffe’s City of Joy, Channel 4’s Immaculate Conception, Blake Edwards’ Son of the Pink Panther, and Ismail Merchant’s In Custody.
Ankur (1974) – Laxmi
Nishant (1976) – Sushila
Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977) – Khurshid
Sparsh (1980) – Kavita
Arth (1982) – Mrs. Pooja Inder Malhotra
Masoom (1983) – Indu D. Malhotra
Mandi (1983) – Rukmini Bai
The Bengali Night (1988) – Mrs. Sen
Madame Sousatzka, (1988) – Sushita
City of Joy, (1992) – Kamla Pal
In Custody, (1993) – Imtiaz Begum
Son of the Pink Panther (1993) – Queen
Fire (1996) – Radha
Saaz (1997) – Bansidhar (Bansi) Vrundavan
Side Streets (1998) – Mrs. Chandra Bipin Raj
Earth (1998) – voice of older Lenny
Godmother (1999) – Rambhi
Makdee(2002) – Makdee
Tehzeeb (2003) – Rukhsana Jamal
Morning Raga (2004) – Swarnlatha
15 Park Avenue (2005) – Anjali “Anju” Mathur
Waterborne (2005) – Heera Bhatti
Umrao Jaan (2006) – Khannum Jaan
Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (2007) – Nahid
Loins of Punjab Presents (2007) – Rita Kapoor
Sorry Bhai! (2008) – Mother Gayatri
