Shabana Azmi: “I Can’t Believe I’ve Been At It For Fifty Years,”

Shabana Azmi’s unparalleled  triumphs  do  not  impress her.  “I don’t feel  like THE Shabana  Azmi at all. It is very important to preserve a sense of normalcy, not to let all the recognition awards and milestones go to your ahead,  which I’ve tried  to throughout my life. I would kill myself if I behaved  like THE Shabana Azmi. Tell me, Subhash, did your most favourite Lataji ever behave  like THE Lata Mangeshkar?I am shocked at how  quickly these  fifty years have gone by. Mujhe toh pataa hi nahin chala waqt kab nikal gaya,” says  the great Shabana Azmi about fifty years  acting on stage  and on screen.

“It is very therapeutic for  me  even now, after so many years  to  perform  on  stage  and on screen. I remember reading somewhere  that when Lataji faced the  mike to sing any one of her hundreds of beautiful songs, she  forgot who she was. I would also like to feel that the time before the camera consumes me  completely,” says Shabana as we catch up  post her birthday.

This birthday was made memorable by a video that one  of  her dearest friends Dia Mirza prepared with  comments from her co-actors Vidya Balan, Shahana  Goswami, Sandhya  Mridul, Divya Dutta,Tannishtha  Mukherjee…

At one point, Vidya is heard saying feelingly, “It thrills me to know that you even know me know my work.”

Shabana gets emotional at the mention of the video. “All these pals of mine are as crazy as I am. But seriously, I was deeply moved by their comments. Is that really me they are talking about? It is  of course wonderful to be admired. But I’d rather be  loved. I hope I am.’

I ask her to  choose one one her  many exceptional  performances as her favourite  and  Shabana quickly says, “Arth.Among  all the  film I’ve one  Mahesh Bhatt’s Arth remains a milestone.I continue to meet women who say that it was a transformative experience for them and gave them tremendous strength. The telephone conversation I had with my screen-soutan Smita Patil  was the  toughest scene of my career.”