Credited for bringing Urdu literature to mainstream cinema, Kaifi Azmi was a legendary Urdu poet responsible for Urdu literature's immense popularity over songs, dialogues, and mainstream cinema stories. He was married to the famous film and theatre artist, Shaukat Azmi. Their daughter, Shabana Azmi had gone on to become one of the most looked upon actors in the late 70s and 80s in the Hindi film industry. (Recommended Read: When Vijay Anand's Niece-Turned-Wife Sushma Kohli Had Revealed The Kind Of Lover He Was In Real-Life)
Veteran actress, Shabana Azmi often remembers her legendary parents, Kaifi Azmi and Shaukat Azmi and talks about them in interviews and talks shows. Recently, we stumbled upon an interview of Shabana Azmi, wherein, she had talked about her father and her relationship with him. Scroll down to know more!
In an interview with the Filmfare, Shabana ji had talked about her father, the great Urdu poet, Kaifi Azmi and had expressed how when she was a child she used to think that her father doesn't work. In her words, “When I was a child, it seemed to me that my father did no work. He never went to the office, was always dressed in kurta pyjamas, he never did any of the things the other girls’ daddies used to do. So till I was about nine years old, I used to lie to my friends, telling them my father did some kind of business, acting very vague about what exactly he did. How could I tell them that he was a poet, when at that point, `poet’ was, for me, a euphemism for someone who did no work?."
Shabana ji had then gone on and had reminisced about when her father had started writing lyrics for films and had gained popularity. Speaking about her friends' reaction on the same, Shabana ji had said, "Then he started writing lyrics for films and his photograph started appearing in the papers. All my friends excitedly came and gushed, “Hey, your father’s a film lyricist. His photograph has appeared in the newspaper.” And I retorted, “Yes, didn’t you know he’s a poet and a lyricist?” And turned to my advantage what till then, I’d considered a disadvantage. The first time I became conscious of his writings was when he wrote Waqt ne kiya for Kaagaz Ke Phool. Abrar Alvi was narrating the script and the entire family, including my brother Baba and me, sat in. It was from that meeting that the songs happened. I have no memory of Guru Dutt explaining anything to my father. His work, his film lyrics weren’t something shared with the family.” (Also Read: When Rishi Kapoor Revealed How Working In Double Shifts With Neetu Singh Had Made Them Fall In Love)
A quick glance on Shabana ji's IG handle and we found some iconic pictures of her father, Kaifi Azmi. We found a cute picture of the father-daughter duo, in which, Shabana ji could be seen hugging her abba. Alongside the beautiful picture, the veteran actress had written, "#BaapBetiJodi when I asked my father #KaifiAzmi if he would my decision to become an actor he said”I will support you in whatever you choose to do. If you want to become a shoemaker ( a mochi) I will support you provided you tell yourself that you will try to become the best mochi in the business”. It was one of life’s many lessons he taught me."
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We also found a rare childhood picture of baby Shabana Azmi sitting in her father's lap. The picture was captioned as "In his lap I was always secure .. Abba." Apart from that, another picture of Kaifi Azmi which caught our attention was the one from his younger days. Posting a picture of her father, Shabana ji had swooned over him and had written, "Isnt he swoonworthy? #Kaifi Azmi." (Don't Miss: When Sanjay Dutt Blamed His First Wife, Richa Sharma's Parents For Their Divorce In An Interview)
What do you think about Shabana Azmi's statements about her father? Let us know!
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