What’s the best way to celebrate a milestone birthday? Take a trip with your girl gang à la Shabana Azmi. The veteran actor returned from a trip to Iceland with her close friends, ahead of her 75th birthday on September 18. “We wanted to see the Northern Lights in Iceland for years,” she says.
This year, the group — which comprises Azmi’s school and college friends, and calls itself Carpe Diem — decided to tick it off their bucket list. The trip doubled up as the actor’s advance birthday celebration. “We walked 50 minutes through the largest glacier in the world and climbed to the windiest place where it’s a miracle we didn’t get blown away in search of puffins! The best part of such trips is that we bond in different ways. Everybody talks and nobody listens,” she laughs.
Snapshots from Shabana Azmi’s holiday with her girl gang
The actor has another group, which calls itself Dher Saara Pyaar, in the Hindi film industry — this one includes Tanvi Azmi, Vidya Balan, Urmila Matondkar, Dia Mirza, Konkona Sensharma, Richa Chadha, and many more. Tell Azmi that contrary to her intimidating image, she has a way of bringing women together and she says, “That image dissipates in less than a day of knowing each other. I can be daft, curious, and wilful, and both groups love to make fun of me. We are an irreverent lot that rally together in fun and critical situations. Javed [Akhtar, husband] keeps saying that he has never seen me happier than when I’m with my girlfriends.”
Next month, Akhtar will host a grand celebration to mark her big day. “I’d rather not have a big event, but Javed has a thing about celebrating my birthday. I’ll also do a seven-city tour of Broken Images in September and October.”
