Eid In Bollywood, a Time To Celebrate

The  three Khan superstars Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir celebrate every major religious festival in  India, be it Diwali, Eid , Christmas  or Holi with equal enthusiasm. During Eid Salman’s  home Galaxy Apartment is  the   brightest in Mumbai. It’s an open house at Salman’s on Eid with guests  of every religious order streaming in  throughout the day  to savour  the delicacies that Salman’s mother and the cooks  whip up in the  constantly-active  kitchen.

Food   flows. So does  good conversation.

Says  Shabana Azmi,  “This  Eid our house is completely under renovation and we are living in a small flat so it’s a very small lunch with only family with full focus only on food .But I did the mandatory badaam cutting for the Sheer Khorma last night like Mummy used to do .. I’ve received lots of messages from friends and nieces complaining bitterly that they are missing the food and their eidi so we will compensate for it next year.My  parents(poet Kaifi Azmi and  actress Shaukat  Azmi)  entertained  at our home  without prejudice. During earlier times Abba(father Kaifi Azmi)’s friends would drop in and the standard fare  dahi vadas and sheer khorma. Now everybody just comes for lunch. Biryani kabaab aloo ghost, chicken dum, mirchi ka salan and sheer khorma is the Eid menu. On the night before Eid  everyone pools in to cut the badaam and pista for the sheer khorma. Kids put on  mehndi,bangle-wali comes to make jodas for all and everybody waits  with bated breath to sight the Eid Ka Chand . Alas, the ghararas have made way for the more practical salwar-kurta.Kids look forward to their Eidi. I love the goodwill and the bonhomie and most of all the  continuity of tradition.My sister-in-law Tanve is a  Hindu and she celebrates  Eid  with unconditional joy. Javed and I are equally enthused by Eid and  Holi. Friends are  called over, bonhomie flows.It’s a time when everybody feels so  much love. There  is singing dancing, and lots and lots of good food. There  is  no difference between Holi and Eid. Festivity is  identity-free.”

Veteran actress Zarina Wahab doesn’t celebrate  Eid at home , “Because  I am married into a Hindu family and there isn’t  much happening during Eid in my own home. So  I  rush to my sister’s place during Eid. It’s  the one time of the  year when I indulge myself  freely  in the food that I like to cook for all my friends  throughout the  year.”

For Ghazal singer Talat Aziz Eid is  aday of  huge import. “ Eid prayer in the mosque Then at home my wife  makes sheer khorma and would have it first thing in the morning. When (classical  vocalist)  Sultan Khan Saheb was alive I would go to his house for Eid as he lived nearby and would have some tea and sheer khorma. Would also visit Khayyam Sahab . Rest Eid greetings would be attended on WhatsApp. As would get a lot of greetings on WhatsApp Facebook and Instagram these days. Would try and acknowledge each one as best as I could. Then we  go to Sanjay Khan and Zarine’s house for the Eid party they would have every year.”

The  legendary Waheeda Rehman is not much into Eid  celebration any  more. “The  children have grown up . They’ve their own lives. It’s not like Christmas  in the West where the  entire family gathers  to celebrate. That enthusiasm  from the earlier times  is missing now.”

Mahesh Bhatt, Mahesh Bhatt: “Celebrations begin  as soon as we spot the moon. Like every year we usher in Eid by playing Gali mein aaj chand nikla from my last directorial film Zakhm.I look forward to eating my Eid speciality, a uniquely designed vegetable biryani made specially for me by my neighbour.Do you know I keep all the Roza in the memory of my mother?  I’ve been doing that since 1998 after her demise.”