Actress Shabana Azmi says actors don’t want to be confined to their racial identities and want to work in every sphere of world cinema. Shabana said that giving opportunities to actors in films irrespective of their racial identity and skin colour, is a welcome initiative and allows actors of any race to work in any film made in the world. She will be seen in Hollywood filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s web series ‘Halo’.
Work done in films of international level
Five-time National Award winner Shabana Azmi, John Schlesinger’s ‘Madame Sausatzka’, Roland Joffe’s ‘City of Joy’ and ‘Son of the Pink Panther’; She has acted in many international level films like. Shabana said in an exclusive interview to PTI-Bhasha that Asian actors do not get opportunities easily in the western cinema (Hollywood) world and they have to struggle a lot for it. He said that it took him nearly 34 years to get the chance to play a character that has nothing to do with his racial identity.
Ignoring racial identity…
Citing the example of actor-director Laurence Olivier, Shabana Azmi said if he could play the lead role in the 1965 film ‘Othello’, why should things be any different for actors of other races. “Asian actors have been saying this for over 13 years now and hence why they believe that the mainstream is always Caucasians (people of European descent),” the actress said. “When we can give actors a chance in films, bypassing racial identities, that’s all right and that’s right,” he said. If Lawrence can play Othello, why can’t an Indian or a Chinese actor do it?’