'India lives in several centuries'
2 December 2011
THE SATURDAY INTERVIEW
She aims to be a perfectionist, whether as an actor, a social worker or a Member of Parliament. Shabana Azmi wears several hats and each appears to attract a feather or two. No one can dispute her prowess on the silver screen and stage alike. Her powerful histrionics has left an indelible mark on her audience, on whom she continues to hold sway. Hers is a powerful voice when it comes to matters close to her heart, such as women, children and the downtrodden. She has worked extensively with slum-dwellers, never hesitating to take up their cause. And, Shabana has inherited her poet-father Kaifi Azmi's passion for educating the girl child. In a freewheeling interview with GAURAV VASDEV and ASHA RAMACHANDRAN, the actress spoke about her interests and convictions.
We have seen you wear several hats, that of an actor, a social worker and a Rajya Sabha member. How do you manage to balance the different roles? In many ways, I am like my father. Basically, when we talk about overall development, primarily we should consider development of children and rural India. My father, Kaifi Azmi, believed that progress could be meaningful only if it reached rural India. He believed in empowering villages. He established an NGO called Mijwan Welfare Society in Uttar Pradesh, which works for the uplift of women, especially the girl child. It has touched the lives of 540 people. In fact, girls from the Kaifi Azmi School are learning through Skype. Currently, I am looking after that NGO. The other organisation that I work for is Nivara Hakk, meaning right to shelter. We have rehabilitated thousands of people from Mumbai slums and it is the single largest rehabilitation project in all of Asia. We blame villagers who come to cities and settle in slums. But if they get work in their places of origin, they don't need to come to the cities. I think we should start working in this direction. Mere demolition of slums will never solve the problem.
But how does this work go with your profession as an actor? I believe art is an instrument of change. Life is not compartmentalised. Art helps develop a world view.
You have also taken up the cause of women… My work (with women) started at the slums. I am doing a lot of work in slums and when you start working there, you realise that along with several other issues such as health and education, one has to look at women. We can't deal with any issue in vacuum. Rural women demand attention particularly. As an MP, too, I feel strongly about this.
India lives in several centuries simultaneously. We have women at the top, like our President other than chief ministers, party heads and others. On the other hand, we have female foeticide.
We have to place women at the centre of development if India has to make progress. At the moment, Indian policies are benefiting one section of society while making it difficult for another to survive. We have to evolve a model of development that works for all Indians.
How does your love of the theatre takes your beliefs forward? Of the many plays I have performed in, a few are very close to my heart. There is a one called Broken images written by Girish Karnad and tells a story about a Hindi short-story writer. We have performed it very successfully all over the world. Another play ~ Kaifi aur mein ~ traces the journey of my parents' life and is written by Javed Akhtar and myself. It's amazing in a way that Javed plays Kaifi Azmi and I play Shaukat, my mother. It also has his best poems such as Tumhare hawale vatan sathiyon, Tumhari zulfon ke saye me and others. People really enjoy it. It is like a live wire.
Has theatre given you an advantage as an actor? Do you think that all actors should have a theatre stint? It is not necessary for every actor to be part of the theatre scene. I come from a theatre background. That's why I am so involved. My mother was active in theatre and my father was president of the world's largest theatre group ~ the Indian People's Theatre Association. I was born in a family where theatre was a way of life, so I started loving it. There are several other actors who do both theatre and films. Naseer (Naseeruddin Shah) and Om Puri, for instance. But there are also those who do only films.
Talking of today's actors, would you say they are not as serious about choosing roles as you were? I don't think that's true. I do feel that actors today have become more conscious about their work and they do experiment. I think it's not fair to say that these actors are not that serious about their work.
But you took up roles that touched upon several socially relevant yet bold issues such as homosexuality in Fire. What made you choose such roles? I feel that Fire was an extremely important movie of its time. It brought to the fore an important issue and afforded visibility to the gay and lesbian community. Today, the community is much more visible. People have come out and they are talking openly about their sexuality.
What about your role in Nikhil Advani's new movie and other films you are currently working in? I am not allowed to talk about Nikhil Advani's movie. My focus is currently on Mira Nair's film, The reluctant fundamentalist, and it is being shot in Delhi.
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