Speaker / Gateway

Every once in a while a megastar comes along to widen and deepen the very essence of stardom. That is the experience that all of the two hundred and twenty-seven present at RCB’s joint Club Meeting with RCB-Hill South on the 26th of April, took back with them that day. It was definitely one of the more special afternoons for RCB, with veteran actor of global repute and committed social worker, Shabana Azmi being felicitated with the prestigious Shri Pravin Chandra Gandhi Award for Excellence in Public Life. She went on to wow us all with her address to the Club where she presented a thought-provoking talk on ‘The Indian Film Industry’s Role in Public Life Today’. Presenting the award to Shabana Azmi were Rtn. Ram Gandhi, direct descendent of Shri Pravin Gandhi, along with President Rtn. Ratan Poddar from RCB, Hill South and our President Rtn. Dr. Sonya Gandhi, who read out the citation, “The Rotary Club of Bombay is proud to present the Shri Pravin Chandra Gandhi Award for Excellence in Public Life to Ms. Shabana Azmi for participating actively in various forms of public life in a dedicated and exemplary manner.”

Veteran actor and social worker, Shabana Azmi was conferred the prestigious Shri Pravin Chandra Gandhi Award for Excellence in Public Life by the Rotary Club of Bombay, on the 26th of April, 2016. Also present at the function was known dignitary and industry fellow, Dolly Thakore who introduced her in a glaring tribute saying “It is not a cliché when I say that no one deserves the Shree Pravin Chandra Gandhi Award for Excellence in Public Life more than Shabana Azmi – a five time winner of the National Film Awards. Film Personality Shekhar Kapoor of ‘Bandit Queen’ fame rightly said, ‘whenever the history of Indian Cinema is written, Shabana Azmi will feature at the turning points’. Her career transcends all genres of films from art-house and middle of the road to mainstream releases.”

Accepting the award with grace, Shabana Azmi explained the genesis (Cont’d from Page 1) of her life from acting to activism, “I grew up in a family where my parents believed that art should be used as an instrument of social change. And they practiced what they preached – my father through his work as a poet, writer, activist and a member of the Communist Party, and my mother with her work as an actor. Though it should have been a given that I should have followed that dictum almost by a process of osmosis, I got so involved in the business of becoming a fellow actor that I kept myself away from politics and social life and I prided myself for not even reading the newspapers!

I give credit to my father who never pressurized me to get into being more socially responsible – I think he was aware that the soil was so fertile that the plant was bound to take root!” Azmi’s contribution to Indian Cinema and the portrayal of the India woman on the Indian screen is unmatched via her award-winning performances in epic Hindi films like Shyam Benegal’s ‘Ankur’; Mahesh Bhatt’s ‘Arth’; Mrinal Sen’s ‘Khandar’; or Vishal Bhardwaj’s ‘Godmother’. Shabana Azmi is also India’s first actor to star in numerous international films including ‘Immaculate Conception’; ‘Son of Pink Panther’; ‘In Custody’; ‘City Of Joy’; and a couple of films awaited by her ardent fans include ‘It’s A Wonderful Afterlife’ and ‘Reluctant Fundamentalist’. Her theater career has also been legendary, with eminent plays including ‘Tumhari Amrita’, ‘The Waiting Room’ and ‘Broken Images’, amongst several others.

Speaking on her life as an actor and her move towards social activism, she shared, “For an actor, you draw all your experiences from life. If you are playing characters that are standing up against social injustices, a time will come when some of the residue of those parts stays behind with you. And that’s what happened with me.” An area brought into focus for Shabana via her portrayal in films was related to the burgeoning slum issue in cities. May 03 to May 09, 2016 The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 5 Rtn. Dr. Ashish Contractor poses an interesting question… It’s Full-House for Shabana Azmi’s Felicitation “Demolishing slums is not the answer – when we demolish the slums, people do not go back to the villages from where they migrated, they simply move to other slums a few kilometers away and add to the worsening living conditions there! A time came when we decided to go on a five-day hunger strike in the early ’80s, demanding alternative land for slum dwellers, according to government policy. Anand Patwardhan’s participation and Shashi Kapoor’s intervention with the government finally helped in getting land for the slum dwellers to relocate to.” “The kind of acting school I come from believes that the actor should be like water, taking up the shape of the vessel that it is poured into. And there lies the contradiction. Does the Indian Film Industry have a role in public life?

I would say of course! As stars we receive so much love and affection from people that there is a natural desire to give back, to make a difference in people’s lives, to use our celebrity status to draw attention to issues that are of public concern. Unfortunately Indian film stars are not allowed to cross a line – they are free to speak on safe subjects like polio eradication but all hell breaks loose if they speak on subjects with political connotations. When we take on public issues, we need to have around us a critical mass of people who will fight and stand by you and will be vocal in support of you and your right to express your views on a public issue, even if you do not agree with it. For people in the film industry, the very real threat of our film being boycotted gags us into silence. Little wonder than that most stars would rather pay their dues by indulging in acts of charity than challenge the status quo or demand sane dialogue.”

“A film personality is as much a citizen on India as anyone else and must be given the right to speak up on issues that are of public concern, whether palatable or not. And that is where organisations like the RCB have a role to play. I urge you to form support groups that can back the celebrity under attack, and speak out loud and clear. It’s easy to say we don’t want to get politically engaged. Is that really possible? Any act of engagement with public life is a political act, even if not confined to a political party. So, on behalf of my friends and colleagues in the film industry I appeal to organisations such as yours to provide space for all opinions to be expressed. After all, dissent is a democratic right.

Any criticism of the establishment, any reservation about prevailing values must not be deemed unpatriotic or antinational. To be engaged in public life you may sometimes need to challenge the status quo because working for change is a political act. If people from the Indian Film Industry are to play a bigger role in public life, they need support from a critical mass of influential people. You may not agree with them but I urge you to defend to the end their right to say so,” she concluded.