Shabana Azmi with mother Shaukat Kaifi
Veteran actor Shabana Azmi on Monday paid homage to her mother and renowned film and stage personality Shaukat Kaifi on account of her second death anniversary, saying her absence has made the world poorer. Kaifi, whose acting credits include "Bazaar", "Umrao Jaan" and Mira Nair's Oscar nominated film "Salaam Bombay!", passed away in 2019 on this day due to age-related illness at the age of 93.
"You left in my arms 2 years ago on this day mummy and everything went wrong. My near fatal accident followed and the world got swallowed up by the Covid pandemic," Shabana Azmi wrote in a Twitter post alongside a smiling photograph of her mother. "Theek hi kehte hain ke jab jab tak badon ka haath aap ke sar par hota hai ghar mein barkat rehti hai (It is rightly said the blessings of elders fill the home with good fortune). We struggle on." she added.
On October 20, Shabana Azmi also celebrated Kaifi's 95th birth anniversary on the microblogging site.
"Mummy Aapki salgirah hum sabko mubarak (Happy birthday)," she had written.
Kaifi's husband was the celebrated Urdu poet and film lyricist, Kaifi Azmi. She and her husband were leading lights of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and the Progressive Writers Association (IWA), which were the cultural platforms of the Communist Party of India.
Besides Shabana Azmi, Kaifi is also survived by son, director-cinematographer Baba Azmi.
Also credited as Shaukat Azmi, her last film was Shaadi Ali's "Saathiya" (2002). After Kaifi Azmi's demise in 2002, she wrote an autobiography, "Kaifi and I" which has also been adapted to a play "Kaifi aur Main".
It premiered in Mumbai in 2006 on the fourth death anniversary of Kaifi Azmi.
The play has been performed by Shabana Azmi and her husband, veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar.
