All her films addressed either a socio/ political or family concerns and Shabana Azmi’s directors relied upon her to deliver a strong message. So, if the school teacher’s wife Sushila is a victim in Nishant, Meena Joshi in Shaque stalks her husband to unravel the truth. Saudamini is yearning for her beloved in Swami while Firdaus is forever nagging the handsome Shashi Kapoor Junoon.
She is oppressed in Swarag Narag and the most efficient daughter-in-law of a large joint family in Aapne Paraye who can face up to every challenge but crumbles every time her husband/ Amol Palekar is taunted for not contributing to the family kitty. It was a beautiful film about family politics and women power in the kitchen.
In Thodi Si Bewafayee, Shabana is unwilling to forgive her husband’s slip-up and in Arth, she refuses to take him back after his betrayal. The last scene of the film when Kulbhushan Kharbanda seeks forgiveness and desires to return home, Pooja has just one question: Had she done what he did and wanted to return, would he take her back? Kharbanda shakes his head and Shabana responds, ‘That is my answer’.
In Masoom it was not another woman but a child who threatens the happy family. The film opened to furious debates if Shabana’s character was unduly harsh towards the child but director Shekhar Kapur was convinced that Indu’s hostility is a reaction of her anger towards her husband. The opening scene of the film where the kids are pestering the mother to allow them to keep a pet at home (she is is dead against the idea but finally relents to keep the girls happy), is a motif carried forward in the climax when Shabana drops her anxieties accepts Jugal Hansraj as part of the family.
To be continued