Shabana Azmi who plays the mother in Neerja, the film about airhostess Neerja Bhanot, says that her inspiration always comes from home.
“Dad belonged to the Communist party; we were living in a community of eight people who shared one toilet. There was no difference between men and women. If my mom worked in the kitchen my dad would also do the same. He would dress me and baba (her brother) and send us to school. Seventy years ago my father had written a great poem for a woman titled Meri Jaan – Utth meri jaan tujhe saath hi chalna hoga (Rise my love, you have to walk alongside).”
Shabana, who had been present at the Neerja award ceremony, adds, “I was shocked last April when I was invited to attend the award ceremony with Rama Bhanot – Neerja’s mom. And very soon, I was playing her. Ram Madhavani approached me to play Neerja’s mom. Like any other mother, Rama too would always think about her daughter’s well being, the small things, like whether she’s eaten etc. But the last speech in the film is hair-raising as she finds herself as a totally changed mother…she found the strength to face her daughter’s death and felt proud about her sacrifice.”
She adds, “Neerja will bring forth awareness; it is also an interesting story of this girl who is not always strong. She has had a normal upbringing, but when the situation arose, she overcame her fears and tried to help everyone.”
Talking about herself, Shabana adds, “I have no fear for myself. However, I always want to see my family members in good health and my only fear is losing them.”
On a different note, the actress feels that a biopic on her life would be quite interesting. “I have encountered so many incidents in my lifetime. I have got offers from many people asking me to get my biography penned and I do wish to do something about it. I am contemplating about getting it written, honestly, without any lies...but then the people about whom I may write about will get offended…let’s see what happens.
Talking about her most controversial film, Arth, Shabana says, “When Arth was completed, the distributors wanted the ending to be changed for the Indian audience. But Mahesh Bhatt refused to change it. And people liked it. The film became a big hit commercially as well. This movie proved to be a huge turning point for me. I had played a strong character and many women came to me asking for advice about their failing marriages. I felt so scared at that time. It really brought about a change in the lives of many Indian women. From this film I got the inspiration to do something for women and started doing some social work that I am pursuing till this day.”
She adds that her mother Shaukat Kaifi has always been her role model. “My mother was not only a homemaker but a fine actor as well. She is my role model but no one talks about her, usually they relate all my stories to dad - Kaifi Azmi . She would cook delicious food and actors like Mithun Chakrabarty, Zarina Wahab, Kanwaljeet and others would visit our house and enjoy the food cooked by mom. She encouraged all new talent; she would never feel unhappy if instead of me, Zarina got a good role.” Lastly she confesses, “Shyam Benegal, Jennifer Kapoor and my husband have also inspired me.”
