Shabana Azmi is an Indian actress who has worked in Hindi films, television, and theatre. She is the daughter of Urdu poet Kaifi Azmi and veteran theatre artist, Shaukat Azmi. She made her acting debut in Bollywood with Shyam Benegal’s romance drama Ankur (1974), which earned her National Film Award for Best Actress. Other important movies of her career are Swami (1977), Arth (1982), Bhavna (1984), Khandhar (1984), Paar (1984), Godmother (1999), Makdee (2002), and Neerja (2016). In 1984, she married Indian poet, lyricist, and screenwriter Javed Akhtar and became the stepmother of actor Farhan Akhtar and filmmaker Zoya Akhtar.