On August 12, Shabana Azmi hoisted the Indian flag at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne’s Independence Day celebrations. "I am happy to be a part of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne and deeply honoured to have been chosen to hoist the Indian National Flag on this momentous occasion," said the veteran actor who is on a high after the huge praise coming in for her superlative act in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.

IFFM 2023 is also special for Azmi, given that her new film Ghoomer, directed by R. Balki and starring her niece Saiyami Kher, along with Abhishek Bachchan and Angad Bedi, is premiering at the festival before its worldwide release in theatres on August 18. t2 caught up with the actor for a chat.

Congratulations on the success of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani...

I am just inundated with congratulatory messages and phone calls! It's all been quite overwhelming. Karan (Johar, director) has managed to make this film a well-thought-out rip in the fabric of what is traditionally considered mainstream and what isn't. The issues raised in the film, within the mainstream genre, have been hitherto considered anathema for mainstream cinema.

Karan really pushed the envelope within the framework of mainstream cinema and Javed (Akhtar), my husband, said that Karan has actually opened up a new genre within mainstream cinema. It was a risk, you know. None of us knew how it would be accepted, particularly the use of old Hindi film songs. I really think that Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani has come from Karan's core. I know for a fact that he loves Hindi film songs!

Karan is also someone who really understood the character of Rocky (played by Ranveer Singh)... he knows him really well. I asked Karan the other day how he is feeling and he said: 'I can breathe now!' (Laughs)

With co-star Dharmendra and stylist Manish Malhotra on the sets of the film

He has been saying that the release of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani has made him more nervous than any of his other films in the past...

And I can completely understand that! He has told me that people have loved the Dharmendra-Shabana track so much in the film that now they are demanding a solo film just based on our characters! And I told him: 'Just relax! Itna bhi mat kheencho ki rubber band toot jaaye!' (Laughs)

While you were making the film, at any point did you realise the film would strike such a chord?

We really enjoyed making it. And we could see how much the people on set were enjoying doing this film. It was a studied risk, but it was a film that we all enjoyed being a part of. I remember telling Karan: 'Karannnn! It has to be a willing suspension of disbelief for me to play her (Jamini Chatterjee) the way you want me to play her.' But he and Manish Malhotra (costume designer) just kept telling me to have trust. And I heard it so many times from them that I told myself: 'Okay, let's go ahead'. Needless to say, I am just thrilled by all the reactions.

Have you been getting a lot of questions about the peck between you and Dharamji?

Oh yes! (Laughs) But what has been heartening is how it's the youngsters who have been clapping away at that track featuring us.

I think a large part of the appreciation for the film, as a whole, and for my character in particular, has really come because it is against the norm, against the mould and against the very idea that people have about me. I don't understand why a strong woman, in this case, Jamini, can't also be romantic. Why should they be an antithesis to each other? Why can't they be complimentary? Someone who is strong also feels the need for love. Pata nahin log hamesha dono ko kyon separate kar dete hain.

What do you mean when you say that you had to resort to a willing suspension of disbelief to play your character? I thought Jamini was the most grounded character in the film...

That she was! But imagine just breaking into a song, for God's sake! Surely that is not so rooted, is it?! (Laughs) In fact, it was on the first day of my shoot for the film, can you imagine?! And there was Karan giving instructions like: 'Her hair must fly!' In fact, he was the one using the fan to ensure that my hair flies in a certain direction... and he was so excited! (Laughs)

But then again, Mahesh Bhatt came up to me during the interval point of the special screening that we were all a part of and told me that the introduction of the Jamini-Kanwal romance immediately introduces an element of gravitas into the film.

Anurag Kashyap messaged saying that we are so fixated in our heads in terms of the stereotypes that older people on screen should play and how Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani challenges all of that but does it without making a noise about it. He said that all filmmakers get trapped in their ideas and the stereotypical images that they make of actors. He said he applauded Karan for breaking that mould. Farhan (Akhtar) had similar things to say.

What was it like speaking Bangla in the film?

Oh, I was very wary of that... I knew I had to speak Bangla well, or at least make an honest attempt to do so! (Laughs) If I didn't, I knew I would be roasted!

It was so lovely to hear you singing Aami chini go chini tomare...

Thank you! Bengali, by itself, is not such a difficult language. As actors, we learn to speak different languages. What was most difficult for me in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani was to speak Hindi in a way which had a slight twang of Bengali. Let me give you an example. I had to say: 'Eees baat ka bilkul aafsos nahin hain' instead of saying 'Iss' and 'afsos'. But then again, it had to be just enough, I couldn't afford to exaggerate it.

I could have gone completely wrong if I was speaking the language clearly and didn't have the hangover of it in my Hindi. That I managed to get that balance right would have to be credited to my dialect coaches. Jamini loves poetry and she had to have an appreciation of words and languages.

I remember when I sang for Aparna Sen in Sonata (2017) and there also I played a Bengali, people on social media said that I am lying and that I am actually taking credit for something that I haven't done in the film! I was very upset until Aparna turned around and told me that I had done such a great job and hence people were finding it tough to believe that I had sung it. She told me: 'If people are thinking that it's a Bengali who has done the job, you should actually be pleased as punch!'