Shabana Azmi Recites Poem By Kaifi Azmi: The daughter of legendary poet Kaifi Azmi and stage actress Shaukat Azmi, actor and activist Shabana Azmi shared one of her father's stimulating Urdu verses titled Aurat (translates to “Woman” in English) on International Women's Day. Kaifi Azmi, who spoke about women empowerment at least 76 years ago, wrote Aurat in 1945.
The poem begins with the line “Uth mirī jaan mere saath hi chalna hai tujhe” (Get up, my love, you have to walk with me)
Reciting the poet's enriching words, Shabana Azmi urged women to stand equally with men, not two steps behind. She uploaded a video and can be seen reciting the powerful words:
"Qadr ab tak teri tarrikh ne jaani hi nahin
Tujh mein shole bhi hain bas ashkfishaani hi nahin
Tu haqiqat bhi hai dilchasp kahaani hi nahin
Teri hasti bhi hai ik chiz javaani hi nahin
Apni tarrikh kaa unvaan badalnaa hai tujhe
Uth meri jaan mere saath hi chalnaa hai tujhe"
Azmi has appeared in over 120 films and a few foreign projects as well. She acted in John Schlesinger’s Madame Sousatzka, Nicholas Klotz’s The Bengali Night, in which she shared screen space with Hugh Grant, Roland Joffe’s City of Joy, Immaculate Conception, Blake Edwards’ Son of the Pink Panther, and Ismail Merchant’s In Custody.
She has been an advocate of girls’ education and upliftment through vocational training. She has served as a Goodwill Ambassador on behalf of India to the United Nations Population Fund. In 2006, she was awarded the Gandhi International Peace Award by the Gandhi Foundation in London.
She is a recipient of the Padma Shri, fourth-highest civilian honour in the country. Parvarish, Amar Akbar Anthony and Jwalamukhi are some of the movies the actress is widely famous for.