Shabana Azmi talks about kiss with Dharmendra in RRKPK

Its not like strong women dont have a romantic bone in their body said actor Shabana Azmi wondering why her kiss with Dharmendra in Karan Johars latest Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani has generated the buzz it has In the movie Alia Bhatts Rani and Ranveer Singhs Rocky meet each other while searching for the connection that their respective grandparents once shared The AzmiDharmendra romance plays out to old Hindi songs in the filmAzmi 72 said she is happy audiences especially young people have embraced the muchdiscussed kiss I think the maximum comments that Im getting are like Oh wow we would have never imagined you in this kind of role and you carry it out with such grace Grace is the word that comes up often Azmi told PTI in an interviewIn her view the kiss generated so much debate probably because its such an unexpected thing Youre not prepared for it in any way at all But I am like why is this so surprising An actor who has a strong woman image why is it not possible that she can also be a romantic person Its not like strong women dont have any romantic bones in their body I think its the deliciousness of it that has taken people by surprise and they just adore it Its the younger generation thats really doing all the clapping and cheeringAzmi said Johar who she has collaborated with for the first time in a movie kept telling her to trust him She got similar assurances from the films costume designer Manish Malhotra who has dressed her in the loveliest of the saris for the movie It needed some willing suspension of disbelief And Karan kept saying trust me trust me Manish Malhotra kept saying trust me So I said All right Im surrendering to you all And if people throw stones at me then Im going to pick up those stones and throw them right back at you Azmi recalled with a laughThe film which she calls a studied risk by Johar is doing well with all the critical and commercial acclaim coming its way Rocky Aur Rani has already collected over Rs 100 crore at the worldwide box office since its release last Friday Karan tackles subjects which have been a relative anathema in mainstream And yet he came from a position of such conviction she said praising Johar for stretching peoples imagination without being preachy and keeping all the fun and the energy goingBecause if you do this in the parallel cinema then youre preaching to the already converted So if you want to bring change through the medium of films then its important that its also brought in through the mainstream she added In a key scene Azmis character owns up to the fact that she had an affair as a married woman and has no regrets about itThe idea Azmi said was to break boundaries without sounding cheap You can say something like that and you can give it the grace and the dignity that is required So breaking out of what you have strongly believed are boundaries beyond which you cannot step in mainstream cinema that truly is wonderful she saidThe actor also credited dialect coach and actor Husne Shabnam for helping her perfect her Bengali diction She really worked hard especially to get the song right under the watchful eyes and ears of the Bengali community Im glad that thats been appreciated she saidAzmi will next be seen in R Balkis Ghoomer in the role of Saiyami Khers cricketloving grandmother She has a homely appearance but is knowledgeable about the sport and inspires her granddaughter to take up the game After that she also has Vikas Khannas Imaginary RainThe fear that we had of ageism and all that it is disappearing and roles are being available for people of all ages and obviously thats a very happy situation for actors Im glad to be here at this time working she saidThe veteran star an icon of the 70s and 80s parallel cinema who had an equally impressive mainstream filmography is being celebrated by the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne IFFM with a retrospective She will also hoist the Indian national flag to kickstart the Independence Day celebrations at the movie galaAzmis films Dharavi Ek Din Achanak Ek Doctor Ki Maut Paar Pestonjee and Sati will be screened at the festivalThe actor credited festival Mitu Bhowmick Lange for curating an interesting lineup instead of taking up popular titles from her filmographyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever