Quotes from Shabana Azmi

India is a beautiful country. Any attempt to divide people cannot be good for this country.

In 1986, I had gone on a hunger strike with Anand Patwardhan rooting for an alternative land for slum dwellers. My mother got very nervous and told my father to tell me that, 'what am I doing?' He sent me a telegram that read: 'Best of luck, comrade!'

If you only play the glamour doll and you want to cling on to the image, then it will be difficult. But if you don't, you will prolong your career.

If the audience shows that it is interested in films portraying strong women, then the producers will be tempted to make such films.

A tender touch, a shared experience, listening to music that both enjoy, with the scent of fresh mogras, is my idea of a beautiful celebration of love.

Terrorism should be struck down with an iron hand.

I have been called a terrorist, among other things. In fact, I am seen in India as being anti-Islamic by the Islamic fundamentalists.

Some people feel that the purpose of cinema is entertainment - which in itself is a healthy enough goal, provided you define what constitutes entertainment. But I come from a family where I grew up believing that cinema - art - should be used as an instrument for change and that's the kind of cinema I've largely done and been attracted to.

I take care to conduct myself formally in public and not be brash. That is a given for people in public life. But I'm very bohemian and informal when I'm with friends.

I'm not saying a housewife is in any way inferior to a workingwoman. No, she isn't. But as an activist, as a woman, I would say the choice of being a housewife or pursuing a career should be left entirely to the woman and that choice should be respected.

I'm singularly lucky to have worked with directors who dared me to take risks and be different and I am thankful to the Indian film industry for giving me my primary identity.

Acting is all about reacting. When you look into the eyes of your co-star and there is truth in his eyes, giving a reaction becomes so much easier.

My father used to celebrate all festivals like Eid, Diwali, Holi, Christmas, etc. with great gusto.

A woman director is not obliged to make a feminist film. She can make what she wants, a thriller, an action film, a comedy, or whatever, but hopefully, she will be informed by a gaze that is female.

I'm not a great stickler for giving or receiving presents on birthdays, anniversaries, etc. as a 'must do.' I prefer giving a gift without occasion if I feel it's something a friend will like.

I've done whatever I've been compelled to do, and I've done it all to the best of my abilities. If I've been recognized or honored for what I've done then those are bonuses, not the reason for doing what I did.

There was a film which I did many, many, many years ago which took 14 years to make. Fourteen years. It was a film called 'Oonch Neech Beech' and in one shot, Shashi Kapoor goes out for a jog and when he reaches, he is 40 kilos heavier!

An Indian Muslim can aspire to become a Shah Rukh Khan, can aspire to become an Irfan Pathan or even the President of India. And that makes the Muslim here far more hopeful and far less in despair than in any other part of the world.

I am on a strict diet now and medication. It's torture, I simply cannot eat every two hours, which is the way all nutrition plans work these days. I lose weight but the minute I start eating again, I rapidly put it back.

'Aurat' is an iconic poem which is relevant 70 years later and informs me in the work I do with women.

As children, my brother Baba and I would be taken to mushairas when my mother Shaukat Kaifi was touring with Prithvi Theatres, because we couldn't afford a maid.

We live in interesting times. Information overload can make it difficult to sift fact from fiction.

When I entered the industry in the early 1970s, I was a gold medalist from the film institute, Pune. That was when graduates from the film institute were very quickly absorbed by the mainstream commercial industry.

It's interesting to see how 'Arth' still touches a chord in people's hearts all these years later. Men were very hostile when the film was shown in 1984. They were angry and said things like I'm teaching women wrong things by saying they have the choice to walk out of their husband's home if they are cheated upon.