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Two extraordinary people...
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Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar are equally elated about `Kaifi aur Main' and the contemporary cinema. SYEDA FARIDA finds out
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PHOTO: MOHAMMED YOUSUF
AWESOME TWOSOME Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar, ahead of their theatrical and musical representation of `Kaifi Aur Main'
If he is the fabled Javed of the legendary Salim-Javed pair to pen the magnum opus Sholay and the more recent Lakhsya, she is, one moment, an activist voicing the concerns of the oppressed, and a thorough actress, portraying poignant realities, the next.
She becomes the voice of the wronged wife (Arth), a paan-chewing shrewd `Madam' (Mandi) or a childless woman trapped in a marriage (Fire). She is equally powerful on the stage --Tumhari Amrita, the critically acclaimed play is a testimony to that. And when Javed applies his floor plan to the stage, read Kaifi aur Main, it has to be a crowd puller.
Inspiring work
"The idea started with Shaukat Kaifi's Yaad ki Rah Guzar on her 55 years with Kaifi. It is an interesting book. On one level it reads like a love story and on the other it gives the socio economic and political background of that time, the cultural ethos of Hyderabad, Mumbai and other places.
When I read that I felt it could be turned into some kind of theatrical experience. The idea was to make two people tell a story. Everyone appreciated it.
But when we started, we realised that it was easier said than done. We had to collect Kaifi saab's interviews from different magazines and papers and video bytes from television channels, quotations from different sources he spoke at different points of time and arrange into a kind of narrative — of Kaifi and Shaukat telling stories of their lives," he says.
Shabana adds, "Everything is from real life. It is collated but not constructed. It is a life of two extraordinary people, which transcends romance. What ever I have seen so far, the younger generation has reacted to it tremendously. Nine universities have prescribed the book in the South Asian studies departments. It is ultimately a tribute to two extraordinary people as also a source of inspiration."
Contemporary Bollywood
Much as he prefers to use Hindi and Urdu words in context for his film, Javed adds that the play is in Hindustani. He is currently working on Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Umrao Jaan, Don and Honeymoon Travels.
A story about a travel company that arranges honeymoon packages for couples, Javed is excited about Honeymoon Travels that also stars Shabana Azmi as one of the couple with Boman Irani. "Charon bilkul alag tarah ki pictures hein (all the four films are different narratives)," he says about his forthcoming films.
Having a diverse and varied fare on his platter he reflects, "contemporary cinema is suddenly offering you much more variety. People are making different kinds of films. We did not have this kind of variety in the 80s and 90s. Perhaps with multiplexes today, it permits directors/producers to experiment with ideas and come out the box. Small budget films have become viable. Corporate has done well at the box office and Gangster is a pretty a different kind of film. It is a good time for cinema in a way." He adds, "Somehow problems of working class are missing in them. You see one rare Prakash Jha's film (Apaharan) on corruption in Bihar. Other wise films are different fresh, new but shying away from social issues. Perhaps that is how middle class is at the moment. They don't have much time to talk about what is happening in Orissa or Kalahandi or about undernourished children in Nasik," he reflects. Known for her outstanding contribution to the parallel cinema era Shabana reflects, "It is very energetic, very robust today providing greater variety of content than cinema of the 90s. A lot of current film is made by young men and women reflecting reality, and not necessary feudal."
"Parallel cinema is not about fighting feudalism alone. India is not a monolith. It has different realities and it is for the artiste to choose. In terms of roles this is the richest period. Senior actors are getting roles of their lifetime. I couldn't even dream of roles I got in past 10 years. They are the best in my career," she signs off.
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