In Saeed Mirza’s Naseem, the great poet-thinker-activist Kaifi Azmi turned into an actor. He played the ailing grandfather of a 15-year old Muslim girl Naseem (Mayuri Kango).
The controversial film was set in the turbulent weeks before the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. Kaifi Saab played a bedridden raconteur, narrating stories of his younger days in Agra to his grand daughter when there was a lot more communal harmony between the two communities.
Symbolically the Muslim patriarch dies in the film on 6 December.
Speaking exclusively on the film, Kaifi Saab’s daughter Shabana Azmi says, “Saeed had actually wanted Dilip Kumar Sahib to do that part and then Dileep Sahib said no. So, I don’t know from where Saeed thought of Abba and we were all rather amused. But Abba being the trooper he is, he said, yes, I’ll do it.”
Shabana had reservations about her father pulling of his first starring role. “And then I was very nervous because, you know, he couldn’t walk without a stick. Of course, he had to have his caregiver Gopal with him. But Saeed was very kind and Saeed made sure that utmost care was taken to keep him comfortable.”
To Shabana’s surprise , Kaifi Saab proved to be a natural in front of the camera. “Much to our surprise, he was quite comfortable in front of the camera. And I think that was because he’d given so many interviews in his life and had faced the camera so often that he took it in his stride. But I think he was cast for the gravitas of his personality.”
Shabana enjoyed the rapport Kaifi Saab shared with his screen-granddaughter played by Mayuri Kango. “If you see his affection with his granddaughter, that’s something that comes very naturally to Kaifi Sahib, particularly with daughter and granddaughter and all of that. So it was just a translation really of his real life feelings.”
Shabana gives the credit for Kaifi Saab’s effective performance to director Saeed Mirza. “He was not given any heavy dialogue to do. And then when the film was completed, then everybody thought he was really well cast for it and all that. And it’s wonderful because there is something that Kaifi is in which is now preserved for posterity. So actually the credit goes to Saeed for ferreting him out and being totally convinced that he would be able to do it.”
