That Same Fire

Shabana Azmi has a brilliant talent and a rare grace that imbues every character she’s ever played. Nairita Mukherjee meets one of Indian cinema’s most enduring legends

- Nairita Mukherjee

I had been chasing Shabana Azmi for a very long time, but owing to her busy schedule, shoots and travel, she remained elusive. It had become a daily ritual of sorts—walk into the office, switch on the computer and pick up the phone to call her secretary, only to be met with another no. Both of us got used to this unchanging ritual. But then, the unexpected happened: “Ma’am will meet you at 10 am tomorrow, at her residence,” said Carol, and I stood there like I’d won a ticket to Disneyland.

I was at her residence at 10 sharp—sweating profusely, out of breath from having had to run the last stretch up to her door to be able to make it on time. I was ushered in and directed to her living room where a large French window overlooks a vast emptiness only interrupted by a lone tower in the distance. In Mumbai that’s a rare sight. “Ma’am will just be with you, would you like something to drink?” the house staff courteously enquired. I settled for some tea to calm my nerves. Why was I so nervous? Was it Azmi’s fiery screen persona or her overwhelming body of work that was intimidating? Mahesh Bhatt’s words resounded in my ears as I settled in with the cup in hand, “Shabana is light years ahead of her time, perhaps the best performer of the 20th century, the industry doesn’t know how lucky it is,” and watched her walk in, without a speck of makeup, not even kohl, in a loosely draped raw silk sari.

“I have done about 14 films in the West,” she says, after we exchange pleasantries. I’m happy to let her set the pace and see where the conversation goes. “Though there’s always been a demand for Asian actors, things are changing now. Indian actors are being noticed as global actors and not just because they belong to a particular race.” Azmi made a name for herself on the world stage well before the dawn of the filmi PR machinery.