Bollywood’s veteran actress, Shabana Azmi, along with late actress, Smita Patil, were among the first few stars to attend the iconic and prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 1976. Shabana shared a vivid memory of attending the event with Smita for Shyam Benegal’s film, Nishant and recalled how both of them collected an audience for their movie. Shabana shared how it was Benegal’s idea to make them wear a Kanjivaram saree.
Shabana Azmi shares how she collected an audience for her movie, Nishant
Shabana was one of the first actors, along with Smita, to go to Cannes. That was not a crossover. They did not even have the money to purchase their sarees. They were supposed to get the advertising materials for the Nishant film, and Shabana realised at Cannes that it had not arrived. During an interview with Filmfare, Shabana remembered how she and Smita had to get an audience for their film, Nishant. She shared how Benegal gave them the idea to wear their Kanjivaram saree, which attracted the audience to the film. In her words:
“Cannes mei everything really is about parties and big advertising and all that. So we sat down with some, what are we doing here? What are we going to dop? So Shyam Benegal being an advertising man he said Smita aur Shabana tumlog apne best Kanjivaram sariyan pehenke bindi lagake just at 9.00 in the morning just start walking on the boulevard.”
