This story is from November 15, 2008

‘I don’t watch television at all’

Tanvi Trivedi / TNN / Nov 15, 2008, 00:00 IST

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We caught up with Shabana Azmi when she was here to perform in Tumhari Amrita as part of the Times Ahmedabad Festival recently.

We caught up with Shabana Azmi when she was here to perform in Tumhari Amrita as part of the Times Ahmedabad Festival recently.
As we went on to the green room, hours before the performance, she seemed tired, sleepy and not in her best mood. As someone who��s India��s storehouse of talent and has been interviewed almost every waking hour of her life, Shabana confessed that she��d like questions which were not ��cliched.��And surprisingly, after a powernap, La Azmi seemed bouyant and forthcoming.
In an acting career spanning more than three decades, Shabana admits she realised she wanted to be an actor when she performed in her college theatre group �� Natya Manch with Farooque Shaikh.She has been coming to Ahmedabad for years now and even she shot her film Parinay here. She finds it surprising that, while Ahmedabad has a great audience willing to patronise art and culture, there��s not much happening locally. ��Why are Gujarati plays more popular in Mumbai?�� She also fondly remembers how a strong section of Gujaratis used to regularly organise mushairas in Ahmedabad where her father, the late poet Kaifi Azmi used to be a regular.
The actor perks up when she is offered some dhokla and patra with masala tea. ��I have done Tumhari Amrita 300 times, but even today I am excited to perform it, because every time you perform to a newer audience, it becomes even more challenging as the audience becomes the third character of your play,�� she says enjoying her patras.

Her husband, lyricist Javed Akhtar might be a regular on television reality shows, but she does not want to be part of the medium yet. ��I don��t watch television at all. It is very sad that there are so many women writers working for women-oriented serials and yet they stick to Indian stereotypes.��
She talks next about what she likes doing most �� acting. Working in mainstream Bollywood is interesting now because even senior actors are getting plum roles. ��I don��t think there is any difference between art or commercial actors today.��
Shabana is looking forward to Onir��s new film, Sorry Bhai . She is running out of time as the director calls for her to be ready. On a parting note, she recites her father��s poetry, ��Pyar kas jashan har tarah manana hoga, gham kisi dil mein sahi, gham ko mitana hoga.��

About the Author

Tanvi Trivedi

It is important to enjoy what you do and I feel writing is a beautiful way of expression. India thrives on Bollywood and Entertainment and Tanvi likes to write on - TV, Music and Films. She also contributes to topical trends, lifestyle and relationship stories. And when she is not on the Entertainment beat, she loves to spend time meeting different people, travel, watching plays, films and reading autobiographies.

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