Javed Akhtar and wife actress Shabana Azmi have been invited by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to have dinner with the 44th US president Barack Obama on November 7.

“Javed and I are invited by Prime Minister for dinner with Obama on November 7. USA’s full of doubts whether he will get a second term. I’m pretty sure he will,” wrote Shabana on her Twitter page.
The US president will be coming to India on November 6, a trip which is said to be the longest foreign trip of Obama.

Shabana Azmi’s 60th birthday party Saturday had for its invitees a motley mix of friends, family and selected colleagues from the film industry who had converged at a lounge named Trilogy.

‘Not like Javed (Akhtar)’s 60th birthday party which was as lavish and large as a wedding reception,’ laughed Shabana heartily, adding: ‘But a motley group of invitees from theatre and my political activities.’

‘I was doing a performance of my new play ‘Seven’ in Delhi till late in the night on Friday. So all the arrangements for the party were done by my gal pals Parna (best friend for decades) and Shahana (Goswami) and my sister-in-law Tanvi,’ said the actress.

It seemed rather unbelievable that the timeless Shabana Azmi had actually turned 60 but the matter of age amused her.

‘I can’t understand why being 60 should be such an issue. I am asked in interviews ‘Kaisa lag raha hai?’ What is one supposed to feel? I am very proud to have arrived at this place. Do I feel 60? I don’t know. Because I don’t know how other 60-year-olds feel. I am just happy,’ she said.

Shabana stepped into her 61st year of age with her friends in Delhi. ‘We wrapped up the play in the evening and then I was with my friends in Delhi to ring in my birthday. Then I flew into Mumbai for my party. So, it’s been almost a non-stop celebration for me,’ she said.

The play ‘Seven’ in which she performed in Delhi is one more attempt to bring her personal convictions on a public platform.

Veteran Hindi film actress Shabana Azmi, who was here to inaugurate a painting exhibition, says that South Asians will have to work together without losing their diversity if they want a place in the global arena.

“We, South Asians, have to work together if we intend to make our presence felt on the global stage. No, we’re not talking about homogeneity. This is not a melting pot where individual identities get submerged. The subcontinent is a colourful mosaic and this diversity is our strength,” she said while inaugurating the painting exhibition here.

The actress was moved by the works of Bangladeshi artist Shahabuddin that depict the travails of the people during their liberation war against Pakistan in 1971.

“Words cannot adequately express the overwhelming emotions surfacing when I saw his works,” The Daily Star quoted her as saying Monday.

The exhibition has been named “Jai Bangla”, a slogan given by the country’s founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It became the war cry during the freedom movement.

“I was looking at Shahabuddin’s works, and I wasn’t alone. This was not the best setting to fully appreciate art, but these images stopped me in my tracks. I was immersed in the world of his paintings.

“When you give even one viewer this feeling, as an artist you have earned your greatest honour,” she said as her eyes glistened with tears, the newspaper reported.

The veteran actress Shabana Azmi opted out from Karan Johar’s My Name Is Khan, while she is next to do Gurinder Chadha’s It’s a Wonderful Afterlife.

Shabana opted out from Karan’s film because the shooting of the film is delayed due to Shah Rukh’s surgery and now she can’t give new dates as she already given dates to Guninder’s film. She had no choice but to opt out, but the actress has a lot interest to do the film because she never had shared screen with Shah Rukh.

While talking about Gurinder’s film, it’s again based on the Indians residing in UK. Shabana will play a role of hysterical Punjabi mother who is searching a suitable boy for her daughter.

Shabana Azmi is always known for her different kind of roles. Now a day, she was searching for a interesting role and it seems that her search is ended with Gurinder’s film. Director Gurinder Chadha is well known for her films like Bend it Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice. Like her every film, this film also showcase the festive part of Indian culture. Her last directed film was a British comedy named Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.

Actress Shabana Azmi will move to UK in March for the shooting of a film.