‘In My First Film I Played a Woman From Andhra’

Ankur, Shyam Benegal’s classic study of feudal oppression, is all set for a re-release, and Shabana Azmi couldn’t be happier!

“I remember, we shot Ankur in a village near Hyderabad. We went to the area where the actual incident had happened,” says the actress. “Shyam Babu developed the script from the short story that he had written. Shooting on location was easier back then, because hardly any film was shot on location. They shot in studios. Now everyone shoots on location.”

Hyderabad is special to Shabana and her husband, Javed Akhtar. “We love everything about Hyderabad — the people, the contrasting cultures co-existing within one range of vision. Most of all we love the cuisine. There is particular dessert made of apricots, a Hyderabad speciality, which Javed just loves.”

Shabana mastered the Hyderabadi accent in Ankur so well that many filmgoers thought she was actually from Hyderabad.