Shabana Azmi
Shabana Azmi ( Hindi , शबाना आज़मी, Śabānā Āzmī; born September 18, 1950 in Delhi ) is an Indian film actress and social activist. She is one of the most prominent representatives of Indian parallel cinema.
Life
After completing her acting training at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune in 1972, the Muslim Indian Azmi made her film debut with Shyam Benegal in his film Ankur (1974). Her performance was particularly well received by the critics and she got other roles. Under Benegal she played leading roles in Nishant (1975) and Junoon (1978), which made her one of the leading actresses in New Indian Cinema . In 1976 she celebrated a success alongside Shashi Kapoor with Fakira under the direction of CP Dixit , from then on she was considered a popular and successful, but nevertheless serious actress. She starred in Satyajit Ray's only non-Bengali film The Chess Players (1977, with Sanjeev Kumar ) as well as in the socially critical comedy Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai (1980, with Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil ) by Saeed Akhtar Mirza . In her most popular films of the late 1970s, Swami (1977) and Apne Paraya (1980), she embodied women shaped by traditional roles; Basu Chatterjee directed both films.
Azmi broke up with her role stereotype of virtuous women in the 1980s. She offended parts of her audience when she impersonated a prostitute in Lekh Tandoris Doosri Dulhan in 1983 . For her leading role in Arth (1982) she received her second Filmfare Award for best leading actress, the first for Swami . In the 1980s she cemented her reputation as an intelligent and socially responsible actress.
Azmi became known worldwide through her roles in international co-productions. Directed by Mrinal Sen , she starred in the 1986 Franco-Indian-Belgian-Swiss production Genesis and in 1993 under Ismail Merchant in the American-Indian co-production In Custody . In between there were numerous international film appearances, so in 1988 together with Hugh Grant , Soumitra Chatterjee and John Hurt in A Bengali Night . In 1992 she worked with Om Puri and Patrick Swayze in City of Joy , a film set in the Bengali metropolis of Kolkata . In Deepa Mehta's film Fire (1996) she played a woman who discovered lesbian feelings in herself and gave in to them. The film sparked controversy in traditional India about the acceptance of sexual deviations and was not shown in Pakistan.
Shabana Azmi received five National Film Awards for Best Actress and three Filmfare Awards for Best Actress . She starred in over 120 films. In 1990 she was the jury president of the World Film Festival in Montreal . In 1998 she was awarded the Padma Shri and in 2012 the Padma Bhushan . At the International Indian Film Academy Awards 2005 in Amsterdam she was awarded a prize for her life's work.
Shabana Azmi is her country's UN ambassador for development and human rights. She is considered a pioneer of modern feminism in India and stands up against religious radicalism. Their social commitment and the ability to "do not mince words" set them apart from the crowd of ordinary Bollywood stars.
Shabana Azmi is the daughter of the Urdu writer and poet Kaifi Azmi and the stage actress Shaukat. Her brother Baba Azmi works as a cameraman. She is married to Javed Akhtar .
Filmography
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Web links
- Shabana Azmi in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- One on One - Shabana Azmi - Interview in Al Jazeera English (Video, 25 min, English)
- Biography
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Azmi, Shabana |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Indian film actress and social activist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 18, 1950 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Delhi |