Shabana Azmi recalls shooting ‘awkward’ intimate scenes with Nandita Das on Fire set: ‘She kept her finger on my lips…’

In an interview with Radio Nasha Official, the veteran star shared the reason behind taking up the Deepa Mehta film. She said, “When I heard the script, I absolutely loved it because I was very much aware that this is something Indians don’t talk in open. They always push it under the carpet. More than ‘Can I do it?’, the thought ‘Should I do it?’ was bothering me. So I was only thinking, ‘What will happen if this film releases’.”

“Then I realised, I can’t generalise every Indian. They are all not the same. Some of them might love it, others might raise concerns or get upset with it. But, at least the film will spark the process of questioning”, shared the actress.

Before signing the film, Shabana discussed it with her husband Javed Akhtar. Recalling her conversation with the lyricist, the actress said, “When I spoke to Javed sahab, he asked me, ‘Do you like the script?’, I said, ‘Yes’. He said, ‘Then do it.’ He explained to me, ‘You will have to be aware that this film won’t happen without controversies , but if you think you can defend the film once its out, then do it.'” Shabana shared she gained the confidence of defending the film with filmmaker Deepa handling the subject of the film quiet sensitively.

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Shabana Azmi also shared her experiences shooting intimate scenes in the film. She said, “It was very difficult.” She explained, “I didn’t know Nandita at that time. On the very first day of shoot, Deepa asked us to rehearse the love-making scene. Both Nandita and I were not used to doing such scenes, so while rehearsing it, Nandita kept her finger on my lips, and it didn’t come out as romantic. Deepa shouted, ‘I didn’t ask you to brush her teeth’. It was very awkward for both of us to shoot such scenes.”

She added, “But, Deepa made sure there were not more people than both of us, her, and the cameraman. She created a safe environment, and the film was not exploitative.”

Shabana took pride in having doing the film as she shared that even after all these years, several members from the community walk up to her to thank her for giving them a voice through the film.

Previously, in an interview with India Today, the actress shared how her step daughter Zoya Akhtar too played an important role in making her feel confident in taking up the project. She said, “Zoya was so young. I think she was not even 18-years old. I told her, ‘we were offered this, and I don’t know what to do.’ She asked, ‘do you like the script or not?’ I said, ‘I like the script very much.’ She said, ‘then?’ So I said, ‘but this is a subject.’ She said, ‘so?’ At 18, she said this! So I thought, look at the way the young think and look at how we think. I felt moved, and I felt that this would be done sensitively, which it was done.”