One of the leading lights of the now-largely-defunct Indian New Wave,Shabana Azmi born 18 September 1950 in New Delhi, India.She is one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema. She is a film actress and social activist, and her performances in films in a variety of genres have generally earned her praise and awards including five wins of the National Film Award for Best Actress. She is married to Indian poet and screenwriter Javed Akhtar.
Shabana Azmi was born in a Muslim family. Her parents are Kaifi Azmi (an Indian poet) and Shaukat Azmi (a veteran Indian People's Theatre Association stage actress), both of whom were members of the Communist Party of India. Her brother, Baba Azmi, is a cinematographer. Her parents had an active social life, and their home was always throbbing with people and activities of the communist party. It was not unusual for her to wake up in the morning and find members of the communist party sleeping about, from a previous night's communist social that ran late. Early in childhood, the environment in her home was inculcated into her a respect for family ties, social and human values; and her parents always supported her to develop a passion for intellectual stimulation and growth.
She completed a graduate degree in Psychology from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and followed it with a course in Acting at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune.She described the reason she decided to attend the film institute, saying, "I had had the privilege of watching Jaya Bhaduri in a (Diploma) film, Suman, and I was completely enchanted by her performance because it was unlike the other performances I had seen. I really marvelled at that and said, 'My god, if by going to the Film Institute I can achieve that, that's what I want to do.'" Azmi eventually topped the list of successful candidates of 1972.
Her first release, however, was Shyam Benegal's directorial debut Ankur (1974). Belonging to the arthouse genre of neo-realistic films, Ankur is based on a true story which occurred in Hyderabad.
Shabana Azmi has been a committed social activist, active in fighting AIDS, child survival and injustice in real life. Shabana Azmi has voiced her opinion on a variety of issues. Initially, her activism drew skepticism and was dubbed by some as a publicity gimmick. However, she proved her critics wrong and used her celebrity status to emerge as a high-profile social activist.
Azmi has received the National Film Award for Best Actress five times:
- 1975 - National Film Award for Best Actress, Ankur
- 1983 - National Film Award for Best Actress, Arth
- 1984 - National Film Award for Best Actress, Khandhar
- 1985 - National Film Award for Best Actress, Paar
- 1999-NationalFilmAwardforBestActress,Godmother
International awards
- 1993: Best Actress award for Libaas in North Korea
- 1994: Best Actress award for Gautam Ghose’s Patang at the Taormina Arte Festival in Italy
- 1996: Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress for Fire at the Chicago International Film Festival
- 1996: Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film, for Fire in L.A. Outfest

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