Shabana Azmi in a still from “The Black Prince”. Photo: Reuters
As Shabana Azmi turned 70 barely four months ago on September 18, 2020, she saw her glorious 45-plus year long career bookended by roles as diverse as they can get.
Her first film, the 1974 classic by Shyam Benegal had her play Lakshmi, a village woman trapped in India’s oppressive caste-ridden society compounded by chronic poverty. Her latest project is as far from that stifling milieu as it can ever get. She plays Admiral Margaret Orlenda Parangosky in the live action science fiction series HALO based on the video game franchise being executive produced by Steven Spielberg.