Shabana Azmi

“My being Muslim is only one part of my identity. But particularly in India and the world over, a concerted effort is being made to diminish all other aspects of identity and only take your religious identity as who you are.”

“I must confess that flowers are my weakness and I love receiving them, especially Indian fragrant flowers - Mogra, Rajnigandha, Sontakka, etc.”

“I look back on my career with some sort of satisfaction.”

“What I value is that I have been able to do some modest work to help women rise to the level of their potential.”

“We never had any money. All the money we used to get, my father would give to the Communist Party.”

“When I entered the industry in the early 1970s, I was a gold medalist from the film institute, Pune. That was when graduates from the film institute were very quickly absorbed by the mainstream commercial industry.”

“After it was declared as an industry and legit money started coming in, actors were then given the choice of making one film at a time.”

“'Aurat' is an iconic poem which is relevant 70 years later and informs me in the work I do with women.”

“India is a country that lives in several centuries simultaneously, and her people at any given time and place encapsulate all the contradictions that come from being a multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-lingual society.”

“I'm singularly lucky to have worked with directors who dared me to take risks and be different and I am thankful to the Indian film industry for giving me my primary identity.”

“An Indian Muslim can aspire to become a Shah Rukh Khan, can aspire to become an Irfan Pathan or even the President of India. And that makes the Muslim here far more hopeful and far less in despair than in any other part of the world.”

“Dissent in art is a fundamental right. But if it is dissent about a book, a piece of art, and if you don't like it, you have the right to express your views outside the theatre, but you cannot create a law and order situation. Then the state has to step in.”

“Unless you have strong roots in films, music, art, painting, or theatre, you can't talk high and think internationally.”

“It is always necessary that we point out our flaws for the betterment of our country. If we do not, how can our conditions improve? But the atmosphere is such that if we criticize the government we are branded as anti-nationals.”

“Acting in itself is changing. This change is because of the advent of the casting director. Earlier, there would be stock characters, who would be seen in every film. Now, casting directors are bringing fresh faces.”

“My parents always encouraged us to speak our minds and to be respectful while doing so about issues that we thought strongly about and that was unconditional.”

“Acting is all about reacting. When you look into the eyes of your co-star and there is truth in his eyes, giving a reaction becomes so much easier.”

“I am trying to Marie Condo the house starting with my books, although it's really hard to part with them! But I really want to de-clutter and get rid of stuff I haven't used for six months, whether it's clothes, bags, or shoes.”

“Look at poor Nirupa Roy. She got substantial roles, but at 30 they made her put grey in her hair. And Achala Sachdev was all of 16 when she played 60. She quit because she got nightmares about dropping a thali and screaming, 'Nahin!' You know an actor or any other human being needs to be comfortable in her space at whatever age she is.”

“An actor's resource base must be life itself.”