Looking at roles that earned Shabana Azmi her National Awards
Veteran actress Shabana Azmi turned 71 today. Having debuted on the big screens in 1974 in Shyam Benegal's directorial debut Ankur, the Padma Bhushan recipient has given us great movies one after the other. Moreover, Azmi is the most-awarded actress in terms of the National Film Awards with five Best Actress trophies. Today, we look at the roles that earned her these awards.
Beginning with a bang, it was her first movie, Ankur that won her the first National Award for Best Actress. Daughter of poet Kaifi Azmi and theater actress Shaukat Azmi, the birthday girl had performed the role of Lakshmi, a poor Dalit woman in this feature film, with praiseworthy refinement and poise. Ankur also marked veteran actor Anant Nag's debut.
The next acclaim came with Mahesh Bhatt's semi-biographical movie Arth. The story was heavily inspired by Bhatt's own extramarital relationship with Parveen Babi. Azmi played Pooja, a meek woman who is married to Inder (Kulbhushan Kharbanda). It is when Inder cheats on her with Kavita (Smita Patil) and eventually walks out that Pooja undergoes a transformation. And this transformation was epic to see onscreen.
Considered to be one of the greatest Indian films of all time, Mrinal Sen's Khandhar won the Best Direction and Best Editing awards at the National Film Awards that year, along with Best Actress for Azmi. Boasting of a brilliant cast of Azmi, Pankaj Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah, and Annu Kapoor, the movie portrays emotions and feelings more via silence than with words. Masterpiece!
Again featuring Shah and Azmi together, the 1984 movie Paar brought out great performances throughout. Co-written, directed, shot, and background score given by Goutam Ghose, the movie is based on Samaresh Basu's Bengali short story Paari. It brought to light caste atrocities, feudalism, migration to big cities, and the struggle to survive in a heart-wrenching reality. The ending sequence alone is goosebump-inducing.
Her fifth award came for Godmother. Azmi appeared intimidating yet vulnerable in this project. The Vinay Shukla-directorial showed the layers of organized crime circles, their dynamics, and hierarchy. The actress played the role of Rambhi, a villager who slowly stands against power, and establishes her own crime kingdom. Happy birthday to the Godmother of Indian Cinema!
