‘Would Bollywood dare to make Kaathal?’ Shabana Azmi praises Mammootty and Malayalam cinema

Bollywood actor Shabana Azmi said that South Indian cinema is vast, and many of the films she loves the most come from the Malayalam industry. She shared these views while speaking to Mathrubhumi News during the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters. She clarified that she was not referring only to mainstream Malayalam films, and noted that many of her colleagues in Mumbai and elsewhere are also very fond of Malayalam cinema.

Shabana Azmi also spoke about the film like Kaathal was made in Malayalam. An actor like Mammootty has done many such films, she said. She wondered whether anyone occupying Mammootty’s position in Hindi cinema would have the courage to act in or produce a film of that kind.

She added that she watched Kaathal because Jyothika was in it. She has acted with Jyothika in Dabba Cartel, and she liked Kaathal very much. Shabana Azmi also spoke about actor Nimisha Sajayan, who acted with her in Dabba Cartel, praising Nimisha’s strong performance in the series.

Shabana Azmi said she was taught by her parents that art should also serve the cause of social change.

She further revealed that a dialogue from a Rajesh Khanna–starrer film changed her way of thinking. Speaking to Vishal Menon during a session titled “Of Fire and Grace” at the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters, she recalled lines that suggested that a woman’s suffering in her husband’s home mattered more than happiness in her own home. After that, she decided to avoid roles that normalised women’s subservience or portrayed inequality as an emotional truth.

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She said that the moral clarity she holds today stems from the shared worldview she has with her husband, poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar. “We do have disagreements, but our core values are the same. The heroes in Javed’s screenplays were people who fought against society; they were not those who glorified cruelty,” Shabana Azmi said.