Shabana Azmi says everything went wrong after her mom’s death: ‘My near-fatal accident followed’

Shabana Azmi has shared her mother Shaukat Kaifi’s picture and wrote an emotional note on social media, early Monday to mark her second death anniversary.

She tweeted, “You left in my arms 2 years ago on this day mummy and everything went wrong My near-fatal accident followed and the world got swallowed up by the Covid pandemic. Theek hi kehte hain ke jab jab tak badon ka haath aap ke sar par hota hai ghar mein barkat rehti hai (They say the right thing, you progress when you have elders’ blessings). We struggle on..”

Shaukat Azmi was a theatre and film actor and was married to renowned Urdu poet and lyricist Kaifi Azmi. Kaifi died in 2002 and Shaukat suffered a cardiac arrest in November 2019. The 93-year-old had been unwell for a while due to age-related illnesses.

Upon Shaukat Kaifi’s death, Shabana had told Deccan Herald, “The woman I admire most is my mother Shaukat Kaifi who has been a wonderful wife, mother housekeeper but most importantly, her own person and a noted theatre actor. She found the perfect balance. My mother Shaukat Kaifi who is a very respected theatre artist was working with Prithvi Theatres and used to strap me on her back as a 4-month old child and carry me to work because we couldn’t afford a maid.”

She added, “When I was about 3 years old I started accompanying her on her tours during vacations from school. I would go to sleep backstage with the smell of greasepaint all around me.”

Shabana has enacted the role of her mother in the popular play, Kaifi Aur Main. Written by Shaukat Kaifi, Yaad ki Rahguzar was adapted into the play. In a 2010 interview, Shabana had opened up about performing the play infront of her mom.

Also read: Shabana Azmi reveals what happens during her fight with Javed Akhtar

“It was a strange feeling to have my mother sitting there watching me enact her life with abba. Though Kaifi Aur Main, was based on mummy’s book, Javed went through several interviews and knitted them together. For me, it wasn’t just a play or a performance. It was a life lived and I feel privileged that Baba and I had been born to this couple, for the kind of upbringing we’ve had,” Shabana had told Hindustan Times in an interview.