"When a leading Muslim cleric in New Delhi called on Indian Muslims to join the jihad in Afghanistan last year, Indian actress and activist Shabana Azmi, a Muslim and an appointed senator, suggested in a nationally televised interview that it would be no problem to air-drop the robed cleric into Kandahar to wage his holy war there.
No less sensational was the fiery response of the shahi imam of Jama Masjid, one of the leading imams of New Delhi: "I won't respond to singing, dancing whores."
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While shooting a film about a shantytown, Azmi decided to observe a slum dweller for her role, and the two women became friends. A visit by Azmi to her friend's grim tenement shocked her into activism.
Upon her return to Bombay, she went on a five-day hunger strike to stop government demolition of slums, in the absence of an alternative.
"I have been the butt of Hindu and Muslim threats and intimidation," said Azmi, recalling the furor her film "Fire" sparked in 1996 with a story about two sisters-in-law who fall in love and seek erotic solace to escape their unhappiness. Mobs attacked the theater, tearing out the furniture, and the actress was accused of being "wicked" and "criminal" by extremist Hindu parties such as Shiv Sena."
No less sensational was the fiery response of the shahi imam of Jama Masjid, one of the leading imams of New Delhi: "I won't respond to singing, dancing whores."
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While shooting a film about a shantytown, Azmi decided to observe a slum dweller for her role, and the two women became friends. A visit by Azmi to her friend's grim tenement shocked her into activism.
Upon her return to Bombay, she went on a five-day hunger strike to stop government demolition of slums, in the absence of an alternative.
"I have been the butt of Hindu and Muslim threats and intimidation," said Azmi, recalling the furor her film "Fire" sparked in 1996 with a story about two sisters-in-law who fall in love and seek erotic solace to escape their unhappiness. Mobs attacked the theater, tearing out the furniture, and the actress was accused of being "wicked" and "criminal" by extremist Hindu parties such as Shiv Sena."
director Deepa Mehta
