Thaindian News

By Subhash K Jha

Notice how Shabana Azmi’s bonding with her screen daughters has always been special. Not so much with her screen sons. Though she was par excellence in her bonding with little Makarand Shukla in Pravin Bhatt’s Bhavna and with Navin Chaudhary in John Schlesinger’s Madame Sousatzka, and though Shabana has expressed a desire to adopt Smita Patil’s son Prateik on screen it’s the screen-daughters with whom Shabana has bonded the most.

Konkona Sen Sharma who played Shabana’s daughter in her childhood in Picnic has been godmothered by Shabana ever since. Urmila Matondkar who played Shabana’s daughter in Masoom and Tahzeeb has remained friends with the senior actress ever since.

It looks Urmila now has company. British-Asian theatre and television actress Goldy Notay who plays Shabana’s daughter in Gurinder Chadha’s It’s A Wonderful Afterlife has struck a chord in Shabana’s heart.

The latest daughter hopping on the Azmi bandwagon, Goldy Notay may not be a name in Bollywood. But she soon will be a part Bollywood’s visual iconography.

Goldy who also has a role in Vipul Shah’s London Dreams, plays Shabana’s daughter in It’s A Wonderful Afterlife.

According to other members of the cast Goldy was initially intimidated by Shabana. “Like all her co-stars Goldy was cautious and nervous about the larger-than-life Azmi image. As the shooting progressed their on- screen camaraderie as mother and daughter spilled over. Shabana was often seen giving the girl serious advice on life and acting. At the end of the schedule Goldy said Shabana was just like her own mom.”

By the time the shooting in London was wrapped up Shabana and her screen-daughter had adopted each other beyond the screen.

Now back in Mumbai and raring to lose the 25 kgs she had put on Shabana will be connected to her on-screen daughter and guiding the novice through her acting career. – Sampurn Media