Veteran actress Shabana Azmi celebrates her birthday, today, September 18. Known for her acting prowess and fiery personality, Shabana Azmi, who is married to veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar is not known to hold back her words.
The actress who is known to speak her mind, come what may, had once called out actress Kangana Ranaut for her comments on the hijab row in Karnataka.
For the unversed, Kangana had taken to her Instagram Story and shared a screenshot of author Anand Ranganathan’s tweet that said, “Iran. 1972 and now. From Bikini to Burqa in fifty years flat. Those who do not learn from History are doomed to repeat it.” Alongside the picture, Kangana shared her opinion. She wrote, “If you want to show courage, show it by not wearing burqa in Afghanistan… Learn to break free not cage yourself.”
A day later, Shabana took o Twitter to question Kangana, writing, “Correct me if I’m wrong but Afghanistan is a theocratic state and when I last checked India was a secular democratic republic?!!”
Shabana’s husban Jaaved Akhtar, at that time, had weighed in on the issue of hijab as well, writing, “I have never been in favour of Hijab or Burqa. I still stand by that but at the same time, I have nothing but deep contempt for these mobs of hooligans who are trying to intimidate a small group of girls and that too unsuccessfully. Is this their idea of ‘manliness’. What a pity.”
Meanwhile, more recently, Shabana Azmi received a compliment from her What’s Love Got To Do With It? co-star Emma Thompson for her work in the film. The film, directed by Shekhar Kapur, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this week. Emma was not present with her co-stars Shabana, Lily James, and Sajal Aly at the premiere, but sent a heartfelt message to Shabana after watching it.
