“The role of arts is not just to entertain. It has the right to provoke as well,” says actor-activist Shabana Azmi.
Condemning the Ghulam Ali episode, ink attack on Sudheendhra Kulkarni, Ms Azmi is concerned that the right to dissent is under threat. In a telephonic interaction from Azamgarh, where she is working for her NGO, Ms. Azmi says: “It is dangerous for the pluralistic fabric of the country. I was among the first ones to criticise the fatwa issued against A.R. Rahman for giving music in an Iranian film on Prophet Muhammad. I don’t want to be a problem. I want to be part of the solution and that is why I tried to reach out to Uddhav and Aditya Thackeray after the attack on Mr. Kulkarni but I didn’t get any response.”
The former Member of Parliament maintains the current atmosphere doesn’t go with the Prime Minister’s thrust for “Make in India” policy. “It doesn’t make business sense. Who will like to invest in a country where there are unruly disruptions, eminent writers are returning their awards and people’s kitchens are under watch,” she asks.
She says those who are calling it intellectual snobbery or manufactured dissent are deflecting the real issue. “My father Kaifi Azmi returned the Padma Shri when the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Vir Bahadur Singh said that those who opt Urdu as second language should be made to sit on a donkey and paraded. He said he has written in Urdu all his life and if his State’s Chief Minister holds such views on the language, he, as a writer, must stand up for himself. What I am trying to say is it is not about which party is in power.”
On whether she is contemplating returning her National Award, the five-time winner says she has no such plans. “At the same time, I respect the decision of the writers. There are different ways to put your point across.”
Recently, Ms. Azmi returned to mainstream cinema with Jazbaa where she played the mother of a rape victim and the audience were in for a surprise when she turned out to be the kidnapper in the whodunit. “For a mainstream film it was a layered character. I watched the original Korean film and was impressed by the contours of the character. I didn’t talk about it earlier because I wanted the audience to go into the film and get surprised.”
She was very particular about the interrogation scene where the lawyer tries to tarnish the character of the victim. “Through my character I wanted to bring out how a section of the society tends to pass the blame on girls for the way they dress up or for having male friends. And this kind of questioning in court means that the girl has to go through the turmoil twice,” relates Ms. Azmi.
