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Shabana Azmi pays tribute to father Kaifi Azmi on his 23rd death anniversary

A man of strong convictions, Kaifi Azmi was also an active communist, deeply involved in India’s social and political discourse. His ideologies often clashed with the establishment.

Shabana Azmi pays tribute to father Kaifi Azmi on his 23rd death anniversary

Image Source: Instagram

Veteran actress Shabana Azmi took a moment on Saturday to remember her legendary father, Kaifi Azmi, marking 23 years since his passing.

The occasion stirred both emotion and nostalgia, as Shabana shared a poignant black-and-white throwback photo from her childhood, featuring her and her father.

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The heartfelt caption read, “Abba… 23 years since you left, but you live on in every pore of my being.”

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For those unfamiliar, Kaifi Azmi wasn’t just a father to one of India’s most celebrated actresses, Shabana—he was a literary icon in his own right.

Born Sayyid Athar Hussein Rizvi in 1919 in Uttar Pradesh, Kaifi began writing poetry at the tender age of 11. He eventually became a giant of Urdu literature and left an indelible mark on Indian cinema by bringing powerful poetic depth to film lyrics and scripts.

A man of strong convictions, Kaifi Azmi was also an active communist, deeply involved in India’s social and political discourse. His ideologies often clashed with the establishment.

 

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A post shared by Shabana Azmi (@azmishabana18)

In fact, during the Partition, he had to go underground in Aurangabad as the British police were actively pursuing him for his political beliefs. His family—parents and five brothers—left for Karachi without him, and he remained in India, where he continued his activism and poetry.

Also Read: Ali Fazal remembers late mother in tearjerking post: “Miss you hard”

Kaifi Azmi was married to the accomplished theatre and film actress Shaukat Kaifi. The couple nurtured a family of artists: their daughter Shabana Azmi became a powerhouse of parallel cinema, while their son Baba Azmi carved a successful path in cinematography. Even their daughter-in-law, Tanvi Azmi, is a celebrated actress.

Clearly, creativity runs deep in the Azmi household.

Despite being denied a visa to visit Pakistan for many years—ironically, the country where much of his family had relocated—Kaifi remained committed to his ideals and continued to write with unflinching honesty. He was also a regular at Mushairas (poetic symposiums), rubbing shoulders with stalwarts like Jaun Elia and Pirzada Qasim.

On the professional front, Shabana Azmi was last seen in ‘Dabba Cartel’, a crime drama series that hit screens on February 28. The show follows five middle-class women in Thane who run a tiffin service but find themselves unintentionally entangled in a drug network.

Created by Shibani Akhtar, Vishnu Menon, Gaurav Kapur, and Akanksha Seda, the series also stars Jyotika, Nimisha Sajayan, and Shalini Pandey.

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