No party for Shabana this birthday

Mumbai, Sep 17 (IANS) She is one of her kind. And she is turning a year older Tuesday. But veteran actress Shabana Azmi has no concrete plans for her 56th birthday.

"My house is being renovated. Javed and I have been living in one small part of the flat for months. So there's no room for a birthday party. In any case I'm observing the Roza. So there's no question of a party," Shabana told IANS.

"But yes, friends are welcome to drop in anytime they like," she added.

Shabana has a hilarious comedy "The Loins Of Punjab Presents" coming up for release this week.

"'Loins Of Punjab Presents' is a really wacky film about a talent contest. Though I did a wacky film recently, "Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd", I've never done anything as crazy as 'Loins Of Punjab Presents'."

She says it is a delightful film. Shabana had cut her hair to a very stylish size for her part in the film directed by Manish Acharya.

"I play this wicked socialite Rrita Kapoor (don't miss the two r). Trust me, Manish has talent in the same measures as Farhan Akhtar."

The actress is quite impressed with the young director.

She said: "It's a comedy. Manish is a New York University graduate. He can talk for hours about global cinema and knows every Amitabh Bachchan starrer and every Javed Akhtar dialogue by heart."

Shabana has seldom been so excited about a director.

"Manish is an insanely talented filmmaker. Would you believe, he was a hotshot executive in an American company and was offered obscene amounts of money to join an Indian company. But he told his wife, 'If I continue doing this I'll never have the courage to make a film.'

"His wife is a very good painter. She agreed to support him while he went away to NYU and performed very well there."

"Manish approached me out of the blue through Ayesha Dharker (who is also in the film). I really enjoyed the movie."

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