Shabana Azmi

In our seventh episode of the Portal series, we welcomed cinema legend Shabana Azmi, an internationally celebrated Film and Theatre actress who believes art should be used as an instrument for social change.

She is highly respected as a social activist and tireless campaigner for the rights of women, slum dwellers and the underprivileged. She heads the Mijwan Welfare Society an NGO that works for empowerment of the girl child in rural India. MWS works on education, primary health and sanitation, skill development and employment generation. Leading Bollywood designer Manish Malhotra has brought the craft of chikankari (exquisite traditional hand embroidery) of the Mijwan women to the doorsteps of the Indian Film and Fashion Industry. From being non-existent on the map of India, Mijwan is today known all over the world as a model village that is replicable and scalable.

Shabana won the Crystal Award along with Mohammed Ali and Michael Douglas at the World Economic Forum 2006. She has been conferred five Doctorates by renowned universities both national and international, has received the prestigious Martin Luther King, Rosa Park and Chavez Award and is Visiting Professor of the University of Michigan. A former UN Goodwill Ambassador for Population and Development, she continues to work on issues of Public Health. She has recently been nominated as Global Leadership Ambassador for Women in Public Service Project initiated by Hillary Clinton.

In this episode, we discussed arts and activism in the new normal.

Watch the conversation below, along with our top three insights.