Shabana Azmi once said it’d be easier for her to convince Steven Spielberg to cast her in film than Farhan Akhtar, Zoya

Shabana Azmi turned 71 on Saturday. The veteran actor is among the most celebrated Indian actors of all time. She is among the few Bollywood stars who could straddle mainstream Hindi cinema and the parallel cinema with equal ease.

The actor has stayed relevant and continues to work to this day. She has worked with many young talents, including her children – Zoya Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar. Shabana has worked in two films, with Farhan and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment. Names include Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd and Luck By Chance.

In an old interview with Mumbai Mirror, she had opened up about the prospects of working with Farhan and Zoya. She had joked how it was easier for her to convince veteran Hollywood director Steven Spielberg to cast her in a movie than her own kids. 

She said: “We keep track of each other’s work but I think it’d be easier for me to convince Steven Spielberg to cast me in a movie than my own children.”

She also revealed all her kids are interested in was her culinary skill. She revealed: “All they want to know is what I’m cooking for them. And it has to be kebabs and biryani every single time. Once I served them Thai food and they screamed. They’re still complaining about it after all these years.”

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Shabana has spoken about Farhan Akhtar on many occasions. Speaking to a leading daily, Shabana had said: “He is fiercely independent and deeply caring. Also, he is talented, funny, at times witty and a super father. I respect his space and he respects mine, which is why we have a strong bond.”

Farhan and Zoya are her husband Javed Akhtar’s children from his first marriage to scriptwriter Honey Irani. The relationship between the two siblings and Shabana reportedly wasn’t very warm in their childhood but over the years, they have bonded well.