'Javed (Akhtar) and I are inviting only very close friends for Holi this time.'
Key Points
- Shabana Azmi will have a low-key Holi party this year due to the escalating West Asia tensions.
- Celebrating the Holi festival was a tradition started by her father, Kaifi Azmi.
- Shabana's Holi party includes only organic colours.
With escalating West Asia tensions, Shabana Azmi is in no mood to have her annual grand Holi party this year.
“It doesn’t feel right. The mood is not celebratory. Javed (Akhtar) and I are inviting only very close friends for Holi this time,” Shabana tells Subhash K Jha.
'There's a generous flow of non-toxic colours, gaana-bajaana, and khaana'
For Shabana Azmi, the spirit of Holi never dies.
“At our family home Janki Kutir, as always the Holi tradition continues," she says.
"It is a tradition started by Abba (Shabana's father Kaifi Azmi) many, many years ago. The invitation goes out from (sister-in-law) Tanve, (brother) Baba, Jadu (husband Javed Akhtar) and me. It's always an open house for friends and family. There's a generous flow of non-toxic colours, gaana-bajaana, and khaana."
"What I love the most is that three generations have been coming together for years and I feel quite misty eyed about it !”
'We only play dry Holi with organic colours'
Shabana recommends a safe Holi.
“We only play dry Holi with organic colours and everyone ends up doing their own thing. It’s important that we celebrate a safe Holi as part of our composite culture and not as belonging to a particular religion only. Avadh is famous for Holi. Javed’s song from Sardari Begum -- Mere Kanha Jo Aaye Palat Ke -- is my favourite Holi song .”
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
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