Shabana Azmi on How the Akhtars Dealt With 'Nepotism' Backlash

Shabana Azmi on Nepotism, her father and why theatrical releases are important.

Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi at Zee Jaipur Literature Festival

Photo: Altered by The Quint

Mee Raqsam, produced by Shabana Azmi and directed by her brother Baba Azmi, is now streaming on Zee5. The film is about the father-daughter relationship, wherein a father is seen fighting with the society to make his daughter's dreams come true.

Speaking about this special bond, Shabana Azmi shares with The Quint the incident where she revealed to her dad that she wants to become an actor. "He smiled at me and said, 'Even if you want to become a cobbler I'll support you but the only thing is you have to make sure you are best in what you do'", the veteran actor says.

Actor Danish Hussain, who essays the role of the father in the film, says that initially his own father didn't approve of him becoming an actor but later he came around. While Baba Azmi adds that his father was just happy that he was doing some kind of work.

Recently, the Akhtars received a lot of backlash regarding the ongoing outrage over nepotism. Weighing on it, Shabana Azmi expressed her views and also opened up about how her family dealt with the accusations.

Watch the interview to find out more.