Birth Name: Shabana Azmi

DOB: 18 Sep, 1950

Status: Married to renowned Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar

Debut Movie: Parinay

Marriages: One

Most Remembered for: The characters played by him in Masoom, Fire and Arth

Litigations involved: None

Jail terms served: None

Biography: Shabana was born to noted Urdu progressive poet and lyricist Kaifi Azmi and theatre actress Shaukat Azmi, a well known stage actress. Shabana’s brother, Baba Azmi, is a cinematographer. Shabana started her career doing parallel cinema and dominated the Indian cinema in the 70’s with her movies with renowned directors like Shyam Benegal, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Aparna Sen. Shabana has acted in more than one hundred Hindi films, both in the mainstream as well as in parallel cinema. She is well known for her naturalness and intensity in her acting which is matched by her fierce advocacy regarding rights of women, minorities and slum-dwellers. Shabana is also an active Member of Parliament following to which she firmly stands in defense of liberal values.

Shabana is married to a renowned lyricist, poet and Bollywood scriptwriter Javed Akhtar. However, initially she was linked to Bollywood director Shekhar Kapur.

Favorites:
Cuisine: Japanese dish Sushi

Causes associated with: Is the ambassador for Safe Motherhood - an awareness drive by WRAI to safeguard a mother’s health during pregnancy