Shabana Azmi says she doesn’t have THIS quality of Sridevi; recalls memories with the late Om Puri and Farooq Shaikh – Times of India

Shabana Azmi is one of the most talented actresses Hindi cinema has seen with some cult performances like ‘Arth’, ‘Masoom’ and more in her elaborate body of work. The actress has also worked with some fine directors in the business. Yet, Shabana admits that there’s one actress who she can’t perform like.
Shabana has confessed that she doesn’t have the ability to transform like Sridevi, in an interview with Pinkvilla. She further added that Sridevi was absolutely amazing. She would sit so silently that one would feel that there’s no life inside her but the moment the camera starts rolling, Sridevi transformed into this sparkling, energetic, beautiful character. For Shabana though, it’s not like that. In some sequences, she needs concentration or needs to be alone.

The actress also got extremely emotional remembering some other actors from the industry and said she still hasn’t come to terms with it. Remembering the late Satish Kaushik, Azmi added that it’s too raw for her still and she hasn’t been able to process it. Having said that, she still has to come to terms with the death of actors like Om Puri and Farooq Shaikh. Shabana was recently watching an old interview featuring Om with Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher and felt that he’s still there.
While remembering Farooq, she recalled that they had done a play together called ‘Tumhari Amrita’. They were doing the play for 22 years and once Shabana said they should call the curtains for it. Farooq responded to her and said that they’ve been doing it for 22 years and will still do it for 22 years more. But just 14 days later he was gone. Farooq was a very dear friend to Shabana.

The actress will be seen next in ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani’ alongside Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Dharmendra and Jaya Bachchan.