The hardest scene was when I had to react to my screen daughter’s death: Shaukat Azmi
The veteran actress remembers her days shooting for 'Garm Hava'
By : subhash k jha
Update: 2014-11-14 12:10 GMT
M. S. Sathyu's 'Garm Hava' hit theatres on Friday, November 14. Touted as on of the finest feature films of Indian cinema, the film's negatives were restored over a year and a half for the screening. Actress Shaukat Azmi recalls on of the most memorable experiences in her entire acting career.
What are your memories of Garm Hava?
I vividly remember the shooting of Garm Hava. In theatre for IPTA I had played many lead roles with Balraj Sahni. This role of his supportive wife was not difficult for me at all. Even today if you tell me to do a scene I can do it in a jiffy. What helped my performance was the dialogues by my husband (Kaifi Azmi) which were very natural.
What was it like working with the great Balraj Sahni?
Balraj was hesitant about doing the role. He asked me, ‘Kya main yeh role kar sakta hoon, Shaukat Appa?’I assured him that only he can pull it off, that he was a better actor than me. It was because I convinced him that he did the role.
What preparations did Balraj Saab undertake for the part?
To prepare for the part Balraj Sahni had gone and stayed with a family in Bhiwandi, an area populated by Muslims.
Which was the toughest scene for you to perform?
For me the hardest scene was the one where I had to react to my screen daughter (Gita Siddharth)’s death. I am a method actress, and I could actually feel the emotions of a mother who has lost her child.
The film’s conversations sound so life-like one forgets they are part of a film?
For the first time we all felt we were working in a movie where the dialogues seemed to be like real life. If I tell you how we did the dubbing you’d probably laugh in amazement. Balraj and I had to dub without sound on screen. And the tape containing the dialogues was lost. So we had to relive the emotions through our imagination. We had no audio reference for the dubbing.
One of the finest films ever was made at a laughably meagre budget?
We were all from the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) and we had no money. But being from a theatre background we were all used to roughing it out. My nephew Ishan Arya was the cameraman. We all believed in the film. We knew we were working on something extraordinary.
Which moments in this film were most unforgettable for you?
The scene where the old lady wants to return to her ancestral home is from my own life. When my father left his ancestral home, a distant relative took over the house. My grandmother felt it was unjust to evict her from her own home where she had come as a bride. When she was on her deathbed she told her son, my father that unless she returns to the ancestral home she can’t die. My father took his mother in his arms and carried her to the ancestral home. I had related this incident to Kaifi and he included it in the film so beautifully.