{"id":90397,"date":"2019-09-18T19:27:11","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T13:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/?p=90397"},"modified":"2019-09-18T19:27:17","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T13:57:17","slug":"shabana-azmi-bridging-the-gap-between-parallel-and-commercial-cinema","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/movies\/shabana-azmi-bridging-the-gap-between-parallel-and-commercial-cinema","title":{"rendered":"Shabana Azmi: Bridging the Gap Between Parallel and Commercial Cinema"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Shabana<\/a>
Shabana Azmi is an Indian actor who has worked in many films, television and theatre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shabana Azmi is one of the finest actors of our time. From the quintessential to unconventional roles, Shabana has never held back from a heterogeneous career. She is the face which emerged in off-beat Hindi cinema, also called Parallel Cinema. However, that didn\u2019t restrain her from indulging in commercial space as well.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, even that space is not as easy to get into as it sounds. Azmi is an intense woman with a mind and aesthetic sensibilities that are irreconcilable to the prerequisites of a conventional heroine in Bollywood’s masala films. Somehow, Shabana has contrived those imperatives and manipulated them with her own conviction.<\/p>\n

Today, on her 69th birthday, let’s rewind some of the substantial films by Azmi which have stood the test of time.<\/h2>\n

(please click next to know the names of movies)<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Ankur (1974)<\/h2>\n
\"Ankur\"<\/a>
Ankur<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The colour film by Shyam Benegal is based on a true event that occurred in Hyderabad. Lakshmi played by Shabana Azmi and her husband Kishtayya played by Sadhu Meher belong to a so-called low caste Dalit family. When the couple goes to a landlord as his servants, the relationship between Lakshmi and the landlord turns into an adulterous one. Ankur is a complex film based on human relationships. It revolves around the intricacies of marriage, infidelity and cuckoldry. As well as being a Dalit in a society which treats such people as untouchables.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2. Arth (1982)<\/h2>\n
\"Arth\"<\/a>
Arth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Mahesh Bhatt film, loosely based on his own extramarital affair with Parveen Babi. Pooja played by Shabana Azmi is an orphan girl, married to Inder played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda. Her life takes a three sixty degree turn when her husband leaves her for another woman, played by Smita Patil. Arth is a layered film which explores the complex marital equation between a husband, wife and another woman.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3. Mandi (1983)<\/h2>\n
\"Mandi\"<\/a>
Mandi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A brothel tale by Shyam Benegal is a satire on politics, incestuous relations and the place of a prostitute in the society. Rukmini Bai played by Shabana Azmi is a brothel keeper, who is possessive about Zeenat played by Smita Patil, a talented masseuse in the maison close. However, when Mr. Gupta played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda invites Rukmini to bring Zeenat to perform at his daughter\u2019s engagement ceremony, both the world of brawl and the civilized world fall apart.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

4. Fire (1996)<\/h2>\n
\"Fire\"<\/a>
Fire<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A 1996, Indo-Canadian erotic drama by Deepa Mehta is also the first of its trilogy; Fire (1996), Earth (1998) and Water (2005). This film is one of the earliest which depicted homosexual love explicitly and seriously. Sita, played by Nandita Das, marries into an Indian family based in New Delhi, and meets Radha played by Shabana Azmi. The women in the household find themselves frustrated and lonely and find respite in each other\u2019s arms. Homosexuality is treated as a disease in our society even today, when love has finally won the battle in the Supreme Court. Back in 1996, Mehta’s bold storytelling around this subject provoked a lot of \u201cright\u201d minds which threw the film into a disarray. However, it was rereleased uncut later.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

5. 15 Park Avenue (2005)<\/h2>\n
\"15<\/a>
15 Park Avenue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An English language film by Aparna Sen deals with mental illness such as schizophrenia. Mitali played by Konkona Sen Sharma suffers from schizophrenia, which occurred from an unprecedented event at Bihar. She is now taken care of by her elder sister Anu played by Shabana Azmi, who lives with their mother played by Waheeda Rehman. Mitali, who is single, has somehow created an imaginary world in her mind where she is married and has children who live in 15 Park Avenue together. The film portrays not only the victim but also how a family collectively copes with a mental disease. The film ends in a surrealistic manner where Mitali actually finds her family inside a complex named 15 Park Avenue.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

6. Aunty Ji (2018)<\/h2>\n
\"Aunty<\/a>
Aunty Ji<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A 2018 short film ‘Aunty Ji’ is about an acid-attack survivor, Anmol Rodriguez and a Parsi widow played by Shabana Azmi. This 20-minute short film is a social commentary on how society casts away people on the basis of age and appearance. On one side is \u2018aunty ji\u2019 constantly challenging the norms of the society and excited to get her first tattoo. On the other is Anmol, too nervous and conscious because of her appearance. What happens when their paths cross? Do they find comfort in each other\u2019s company? Watch it tonight to understand the psyche of two very different human beings, women compelled by circumstances to confront unique social and emotional challenges.<\/p>\n

Though Shabana excelled in new wave cinema, she had her other foot in commercial cinema too. Masoom, Thodi si Bewafai, Junoon, Amar Akbar Anthony, Fakira, Swarg Narak, Swami, Rakhwala etc. are some of her regular Bollywood films which tasted commercial success. On her birthday, we wish her all the best and hope that she will continue to surprise the audience with her varied and thought-provoking portrayals for many many more years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shabana Azmi is one of the finest actors of our time. From the quintessential to unconventional roles, Shabana has never held back from a heterogeneous career. She is the face which emerged in off-beat Hindi cinema, also called Parallel Cinema. However, that didn\u2019t restrain her from indulging in commercial space as well. Nevertheless, even that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19872,"featured_media":90404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[7819,11378],"class_list":{"0":"post-90397","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-actor","9":"tag-shabana-azmi"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19872"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90397"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90406,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90397\/revisions\/90406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}