All the world’s a stage
Catch Shabana Azmi this weekend as she brings Happy Birthday Sunita, a comedy about family and loyalty, to Dubai
A ctor and activist Shabana Azmi has her priorities sorted. A plum film project with a director she has always admired will not compel her to pull the plug on theatre.
“Everybody around me would root for that big film, saying that theatre dates can always be adjusted and that I was being silly to give up such a big project. But I didn’t go down that road. And I have no regrets,” said Azmi, who has mastered the art of balancing cinema and theatre for decades.
This weekend, she will channel her love for the stage by bringing her play Happy Birthday Sunita to Centrepoint at Ductac, from tomorrow until Saturday.
“It’s a comedy with a universal message,” said Azmi in an interview with tabloid!. The play, written by Harvey Virdi and directed by Pravesh Kumar, is a farcical comedy that explores truths about family ties, loyalty and personal freedom set against the backdrop of a dysfunctional British- Asian Punjabi family in the UK. Azmi plays the matriarch Tejpal Johal.
“But the pressure of meeting expectations of the society is a universal phenomenon. So, the play’s appeal is not just limited to Indians,” said Azmi, who has been a force to reckon with in Indian cinema since the early 1970s. Her rich catalogue of films includes a good mix of Bollywood blockbusters such as Honeymoon Travels and independent films such as Arth, in which she played a housewife in search of her identity, and in which she played a ruthless, betel- chewing brothel owner. But she believes the best is yet to come.
“It’s a great time to be in Indian cinema today. Today, even our mainstream actors are demanding much more of themselves. If you see earlier, no demand was made on the actors except to be a hero or a star. Now from getting their body right to getting their hairstyle right to internalising their characters, both male and female actors are demanding more of themselves. It’s a good sign.”
Azmi spoke to about her play, criticism and about cinema being the glitzier cousin to theatre.
Why should we watch
Happy Birthday Sunita?
We have staged this play around 37 times and it has enjoyed a phenomenal response. It’s a comedy with a universal message. It begins by introducing you to a British- Asian Punjabi family who come together to celebrate the 40th birthday of my daughter. Sunita is unmarried and lives with her mother. I play the mother, Tejpal Johal. As the play progresses, you start realising that everyone in the house is wearing a mask. At one juncture, the mother announces that she’s done with playing the role of a dutiful person who looks after the dreams of her children, her home. She wants to follow her dream. I can’t reveal what the dream is because I would be giving away a crucial part of the play. Everyone is shocked since they have not seen her in any other way than as a mother. They protest at her turnaround but