Shabana Azmi at peace with her age

Bollywood veteran Shabana Azmi who is considered to be one of the finest actresses of the Hindi cinema turns 64 today stating that she is at peace with her age. “I’m at peace with my age. I’ve embraced life at all stages. I remember people were horrified when I celebrated my 50th. ‘Don’t announce your age’, I was advised. How stupid is that.”

An actress with high intellect, Shabana has hugely contributed towards parallel cinema and has given a boost to the genre with her amazing acting skills.

When asked whether she is excited about her cake cutting ceremony the actress stated that she never liked the ceremony as it gives rise to status divisions in the society. “The cake cutting is a practice I do not like. When did it start in India and why, I do not know. In school, we were only allowed to give two sweets each to the entire class. It was a great leveller because it prevented the richer girls from being lavish and didn’t show the not-so-rich ones in poor light.”

However the veteran actress expressed her likeability for Indian flowers Mogra, Rajnigandha, Sontakka as a present on her birthdays.

Shabana made her debut with the critically acclaimed film Ankur which was released in 1974. She made it very clear in her first film itself that she was a powerhouse of talent. She pulled a hat trick when she won the National Award for three consecutive years from 1983-1985 for Arth, Khandhar and Paar.

Over the period of years, Shabana has gained immense respect and love from the Hindi film industry. Actress and social activist Shabana Azmi will co-incidentally spend the day rehearsing for her play “Happy Birthday Sunita” which is to premiere on September 19 in London.