Shabana Azmi

“It seems kosher and OK to treat women as objects because the business of cinema is about images and when you have fragmented images of a woman's bosom and her swiveling hip and her twisting navel, it robs the woman of all autonomy and subjects her to the male gaze.”

“Whenever I was troubled and confused, I always depended upon my father to give me an objective perspective.”

“It's interesting to see how 'Arth' still touches a chord in people's hearts all these years later. Men were very hostile when the film was shown in 1984. They were angry and said things like I'm teaching women wrong things by saying they have the choice to walk out of their husband's home if they are cheated upon.”

“I remember people were horrified when I celebrated my 50th! 'Don't announce your age,' I was advised! How stupid is that.”

“In Kaifi's poetry and in his work as a social activist, every setback only strengthened his resolve to fight back with renewed vigor and strength.”

“What bothers me about red carpet, particularly Cannes, is that it's an extremely important festival where stunning films are shown and nothing of that ever comes in papers. It's always celebrities standing with one hand on waist, I don't know who decided that as an attractive position.”

“A fatwa is not a diktat, it's not binding. To turn the utterance of a non-entity into a fatwa and then talk about it endlessly really gets on my nerves.”

“The position that Indian Muslims have is unique because we exist in a democracy, which is something that cannot be said about many Muslims living in the world.”

“I think men and women are different - I am not saying better or worse, just different.”

“My father was a rare poet. He was somebody who worked in the trenches. When he wanted to speak about social justice or gender empowerment, he spoke through his poetry.”

“Kangana has started believing in her own myth. She says she taught feminism to the film industry, she taught it nationalism. I'm glad she spelled that out because nobody else had noticed! I think she fears the day when she will no longer be in the headlines and so has to keep making outrageous statements to stay in the news.”

“As children, my brother Baba and I would be taken to mushairas when my mother Shaukat Kaifi was touring with Prithvi Theatres, because we couldn't afford a maid.”

“If you only play the glamour doll and you want to cling on to the image, then it will be difficult. But if you don't, you will prolong your career.”

“One of the best things that we have in India is a free press.”

“Art cinema is easier to do as situations in it are closer to real life.”

“Over the years, I've consciously not done films that in any way suggest that women are subservient to men.”

“We live in interesting times. Information overload can make it difficult to sift fact from fiction.”

“A tender touch, a shared experience, listening to music that both enjoy, with the scent of fresh mogras, is my idea of a beautiful celebration of love.”

“I was very nervous about speaking in Punjabi. I have learnt it by heart.”

“Earlier at 30, a girl's career was over. Now, all of our top actresses are above 30 and doing well.”