As ‘Women of Impact’ by Barkha Dutt was nearing the close of its impressive inaugural chapter in Mumbai, celebrity powerful couple – Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi were welcomed onto the stage with immense adulation. The couple known for their playful banter and deep friendship, charmed audiences with their witty yet profound conversations.
Replying to Barkha’s question on navigating the world for women as a feminist, wherein there is enforced modesty and complete objectification, Shabana Azmi replied
“Cinema is defined by the image. So when you have disconnected images like a heaving bosom, a shaking navel, a swiveling hip, you cut them into fragments and then how the camera moves over the body is what decides what the intention of the director is. So I feel in an item number a woman loses all control and surrenders to the male gaze so she is objectifying herself and some of the lyrics which she is singing I find extremely uncomfortable and disagree with it.”
Taking us back to their romantic courtship days, Shabana Azmi also narrated the incident when Javed Akhtar bought her an entire flower shop. She shared “We were passing by a florist and I said the flowers are so beautiful and he stopped the car and bought the entire shop, so of course I was instantly charmed. Then after a few days when we were not speaking to each other, he sent me a line from a poem. My mother said ‘Mat Phanso! A poet always traps you with his words, stay away from him’ but of course that did not happen.”