Aamir Khan may belong to a family of filmmakers, but even as an industry insider, his journey into films wasn’t easy. His father, Tahir Hussain, was a film producer, yet he didn’t want his children to enter the movie business, as he saw it as an unstable and risky career. While Aamir’s uncle, Nasir Hussain, was a successful filmmaker, his father still didn’t trust the industry. Speaking at the recent Waves Summit, Aamir revealed that his father had strictly told him not to pursue films. He added that if his father had found out about his plans, “voh toh meri jaan hi le lenge (He will kill me).”
After a trailblazing 50 years in the film industry and scooping up a record five National Film Awards for Best Actress (the most by any Indian actor), internationally acclaimed actor and activist Shabana Azmi is still driven by the single most important value she absorbed from her parents – that art should be used as an instrument for social change. An intrepid champion of several causes in India for women, children and the underprivileged, the former Rajya Sabha member spoke to India Currents about her vision for the future of children, Indian American stories, her latest Netflix outing and AI in films.
During the interaction, Shabana said, “I have so many incidents with Rekha. I remember one thing so clearly. Then I realised, ‘Oh, this is the public persona!’ So, she and I were in a plane chatting away, [imitates laughing sounds] and then, somebody said, ‘Ma’am, ma’am, can you give me an autograph?'”
