Shabana Azmi’s Mee Raqsam, release in August this year, is all set to make a mark in Coalition of South Asian Film Festivals. The movie will be shown in the opening night of the festival. It will be accompanied by more than 60 films in the course of the festival from South Asia. This added a feather to Shabana’s cap. The movie is directed by the actress’ brother Baba Azmi, who is also the producer. Shabana is the presenter of the movie. The main roles of the father-daughter duo in the film are essayed by Danish Hussain and Aditi Subedi. As said by Shabana, the movie is a tribute to their father late legendary poet, Kaifi Azmi, who was born in Mijwan.
Shabana Azmi Shares Thoughts about Film Mee Raqsam:
The movie revolves around Kaifi’s birthplace and depicts the story of a young Muslim girl who wants to pursue bharatnatyam. However, she receives harsh opposition from the society but his father backs her up in those tough times. The film’s lead star, in an interview to Hindustan Times, said, “What it has done is that it has created sort of a chain reaction in the villages of Mijwan where suddenly the girls are feeling that it’ s OK to have a huge dream because it is possible that the dream can be realised. That to me, is what would have made my father very, very happy because he worked for the empowerment of the girl child and women all his life.” Aditi is also from Mijwan. She added, “There are so many people in our small towns who have so much talent.”
Shabana recalled the adversaries of her early life. She said, “We never had any money. All the money we used to get, my father would give to the Communist Party.” She also shared that her father would give only 40 bucks for monthly expenditure. “All the values that we got is from what we saw around us. Let’s remember that 70 years ago, my father wrote an iconic poem Aurat, which said ‘Uth meri jaan, mere saath hi chalna hai tujhe’, at a time when it was believed that the role of the woman was to sit at home and look after children. He said ‘No! You have to march, shoulder to shoulder’,” actress added.
Shabana’s views on the movie:
She also cleared the air that film shows no community in strictly negative light. As per Shabana, the film is not targetting a community but a way of thinking, a world view. She went on to add that fight today is not between religions but between world views that are tolerant and liberal on one side as against the intolerant and fundamentalist on the other.
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