About this Event
Ankur (Seedling) Film Screening and Talk with Shabana Azmi
SSAI Sanglaap with Tongues on Fire – UK Asian Film Festival celebrates and honours 50 years of Shabana Azmi, performing in over 160 films.
Join us on 11 May, for a Saturday afternoon screening of Ankur/Seedling (India 1974/English subtitled, running time 131mins); Director: Shyam Benegal; Cast: Shabana Azmi, Anant Nag among others.
REGISTRATION OPENS: 12 noon
<h4>FILM SCREENING: 12:30 pm to 2:45 pm</h4><h4>PANEL TALK and QA with Shabana Azmi -- 2:45 to 3:45 pm</h4><h4>CELEBRATORY Reception with Shabana Azmi, honouring the Golden Girl of Indian cinema.</h4><h4>4 pm to 5 pm at the Paul Webley Wing, SENATE HOUSE BUILDING, SOAS campus entry.</h4>Summary:
SSAI Sanglaap series with Tongues on Fire – UK Asian Film Festival celebrates and honours 50 years of Shabana Azmi, one of Indian cinema’s most acclaimed and distinguished actresses, with a long and illustrious career that spans over 160 films and stretches across independent, parallel and mainstream Hindi cinema as well as international projects.
Ankur/Seedling (India 1974/English subtitled running time 131mins); Director: Shyam Benegal; Cast: Shabana Azmi, Anant Nag among others is a landmark film that launched both director Shyam Benegal and actor Shabana Azmi on their illustrious and often intertwined cinematic careers representing a new wave movement of arthouse films recognized for their authentic storyline, treatment and sensibility recalling the modest realism of the pioneering Satyajit Ray.
Azmi traversed beyond the glossy and stereotypical portrayals of women with impactful realistic performances in films like Masoom and Arth, pushing the boundaries further and inviting audiences to probe off-screen societal norms that influenced on-screen representations of a housewife, mother and woman in an evolving Indian society. Nishant (1975) Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) Junoon (1978) Sparsh (1980) Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai (1980) Mandi (1983) Madame Sousatzka (1988), Dharavi (1992), Godmother (1999), Makdee (2002), reveal her craftsmanship, versatility and an unconditional commitment to the art and craft of cinema.
<h4>Between 1983 and 1985 for three consecutive years, Azmi won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in Arth, Khandhar and Paar, several international accolades (Martin Luther King Professorship Award, Rajib Gandhi Award for excellence of secularism), and was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1998, and the Padma Bhushan in 2012 by the Government of India for her outstanding contribution to cinema.</h4>
The daughter of two abundantly talented artists, renowned poet Kaifi Azmi and stage actress Shaukat Azmi, Shabana Azmi graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in 1973 and made her debut with Shyam Benegal’s debut social drama Ankur in 1974, which won her the National Award for Best Actress. Praising her performance in Ankur, Satyajit Ray had once remarked, "Shabana Azmi does not immediately fit into her rustic surroundings, but her poise and her personality are never in doubt, and in two high-pitched scenes she pulls out all her stops and firmly establishes herself as one of our finest dramatic actresses."
Throughout much of her life, and courageously stepping beyond on-screen activism, Azmi has remained committed to fighting injustices, and religious fundamentalism, lending her powerful voice and on-screen persona to critical issues such as AIDS ostracism and child mortality amongst other causes that she continues to support and champion, relentlessly.
SSAI and UKAFF invite you all to celebrate Shabana Azmi’s five glorious decades in cinema; We are truly humbled and privileged to honour this extraordinarily gifted artist, wonderful human being and the Golden Girl of Indian cinema who remains a matter of great pride, joy and inspiration to lovers of cinema worldwide!
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Khalili Lecture Theatre, Russell Square, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00