AZMI, SHRIMATI SHABANA |
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B.A.(Psychology),Diploma (in acting); Nominated; d. of Shri Kaifi Azmi and Shrimati haukat Kaifi; b. at Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), September 18, 1951: ed. At (i)St.Xavier's College, Bombay and (ii) Film and Television Institute of India, Pune; m. Shri Javed Akhtar, December 9, 1984.
Artiste (film actress) and Social Activist; has acted in more than hundred Hindi films (both mainstream and parallel cinema); has had retrospectives of her films at the prestigious George Pompidou Centre, Paris, the Norwegian Film Institute, the Smithsonian Institution and the American Film Institute, Washington, Pacific Cinematheque and Winnipeg Cinematheque; has won international acclaim in films especially John Schlesinger's "Madame Sousatzka", Nicholas Klotz's "The Bengali Night", Roland Joffe's "City of Joy", Channel 4's "Immaculate Conception", Blake Edward's"The Son of Pink Panther" and Ismail Merchant's "In Custody"; has actively participated in several street plays and demonstrations against communalism; undertook a four day march for communal harmony from Delhi to Meerut in April 1989 alongwith Swami Agnivesh and Asghar Ali Engineer; committed to the cause of slum dwellers in Mumbai and as Chairperson of the Nivara Hakk Suraksha Samiti, managed to get alternative land for the disputed slum dwellers of Sanjay Gandhi Nagar; raised funds for displaced Kashmiri migrants and the victims of Latur earthquake with the extensive tour of her play "Tumhari Amrita"; Patron, Mijwan Welfare Society (Women Educational and Vocational Training); was Chairperson (i) Children's Film Society, 1992-94 and (ii) Jury at the Montreal and Cairo International Film Festivals; Chairperson, Nivara Hakk Suraksha Samiti; Member, (i) National Integration Council since 1989, (ii) National AIDS Commission, (iii) Tourism Board, Government of India, 1997 and (iv) Committee on Urban and Rural Development; nominated to the Rajya Sabha in August, 1997.
Travels abroad : Widely travelled all over the world.
Accomplishment in arts and science : Awarded with (i)Gold Medal for the Best Student in Acting by the Film and Television Institute of India , Pune, (ii) National Award for the Best Actress for her first film "Ankur" in 1974, "Arth" in 1983, "Khandhar" in 1984 and "Paar" in 1985, (iii) Filmfare Award, (iv) Rajiv Gandhi Award for "Excellence in Secularism", August, 1994, (v) Yash Bhartiya Award by the Government of Uttar Pradesh for highlighting womens' issues in her work as an actress and activist and (vi) Padma Shri, 1988;also won the International Award for Best Actress for Gulzar's "Libaas" in North Korea in 1993, for Gautam Ghose's "Patang"at the Taormina Arte Festival in Italy in August 1994 and for Deepa Mehta's "Fire" at the Chicago International Film Festival in 1996.
Special interest : Housing for the underprivileged, welfare of women and children and issues of secularism.
Favourite pastime and recreation : Reading and Music.