Shabana Azmi

Shabana Azmi was born on 18 September 1950 in New Delhi, India. She is one of the most leading and sought out actresses of parallel cinema. Shabana Azmi is a social activist too, and has honoured with the National Film Award for Best Actress. In 1973 she completed her graduation from FTII and went on to sign on Khwaja Ahmad Abbas' Faasla and began work on Kanti Lal Rathod's Parinay as well.

Her first release was Shyam Benegal's directorial debut Ankur that was released in 1974. The actress went on to receive the National Film Award for three years from 1983 to 1985 for her roles in films- Arth, Khandhar and Paar respectively.

Even the 1999 film Godmother earned her another National Film Award. She also acted in experimental and parallel Indian cinema. Deepa Mehta’s 1996 film Fire showcased her as a lonely woman, Radha, in love with her sister-in-law.

Shabana Azmi debuted on the small screen in a soap opera titled Anupama in which she portrayed a modern Indian woman. Recently, Shabana Azmi was seen in Gurinder Chadha's It's A Wonderful Afterlife.