Remembrance on Celluloid

Kaifi Azmi's biography will now be made into a film.
Shabana Azmi says her parents' romance was spectacular and confirms reports that a production house is keen on making a film on her father Kaifi Azmi's biography, Yaad Ki Rahguzar, written by her mother Shaukat.

Spectacular romance

“Some interest has been shown in making a film on the book. My parents' romance was spectacular,'' said Shabana, who launched the Marathi version of the biography.

“In Marathi, my mother's book is called Kaifi Aani Mee. It has been earlier translated into English and Japanese. It feels good to watch my parents find space in the literary circle in so many different languages,'' Shabana said.

Shabana has been travelling a lot. Just the evening before the book launch, she was in Delhi, performing in a play called Tumhari Amrita with Farooq Shaikh.

Voice of success

“I was suffering from laryngitis. My voice was gone.

By evening it came back a bit. But the voice was so bass, I wondered if I should perform Farooq's part instead. I managed with great difficulty,'' Shabana said.

After managing well with the play in Delhi, the actress rushed to Nashik for her mother's book release.

“And my voice was gone again. Let's face it, my mother's biography of my father has had a long life.

It has been selected by 14 universities in the US and has had four referential readings in South Asian institutions because it rises above a personal story to encompass a socio-political milieu that is distinctly female.''

Shabana's writer husband Javed Akhtar has written a play Kaifi Aur Main based on the biography.

It has been staged a number of times with Akhtar and Shabana playing Kaifi and Shaukat Azmi respectively.