The late legendary artist M.F. Husain, for whom the whole world was a plain canvas, touched millions of lives through his work. Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi is also one of those who had the privilege to know the artist, to spend time with him. He was a family friend; thus, a frequent visitor at her house. And this friendship made the actress treasure some of the sweetest memories with the late maestro. “I have really beautiful memories of Husain Sahib. He was a friend of Abba’s(father Kaifi Azmi), so he used to come pretty frequently to the house, and then one day he put me in his little car, which was seen all over, and he took me to Grant Road, and he took me to various places, and we just had a very fun day,” shared Shabana Azmi, as she spoke to us exclusively on the death anniversary of M.F. Husain.She continued, “There are so many instances of him. I remember it was my parents’ 50th anniversary, and I’d asked him to come and paint something for them, and he was amazing. He came all the way from Delhi. He was so tired that he went to sleep in my bedroom, and then got up literally about ten minutes before he had to go up on stage, and he did a wonderful poem. He did a wonderful painting. There are many, many, many, many instances, but the fact is that he sort of treated me like an equal, which I used to find so strange, because he was so way ahead in his profession, but there was always a certain warmth.”
M.F. Husain taught Sabana Azmi how to appreciate art
“One day, I told him, ‘Please teach me how to look at a painting.’ So he said, just look and then see. So I said, no, don’t be facetious, because I really want to learn. He said, Shabana, a painting has to evoke very strong emotions within you. Either you love it or you hate it, and that is the most visceral response that the artist expects from the viewer. Yes, of course, if you know the strokes of the brush, if you know all that, that will only help. To bas isko aise hi experience karo.”
Shahbana Azmi’s house is filled with M.F. Husain’s paintings
Veteran Bollywood star has one of the most beautiful collections of M.F. Husain’s paintings, and they must be worth crores, but according to Shaban Azmi, you simply can’t put a price on them. “I remember once I was sitting in an aircraft, and suddenly the air hostess gave me a little tissue, a napkin, and turned out that Hussain had done a sketch on it, on that napkin. Can you imagine on that tissue? That was wonderful. Then once I was with him in this cafe, which was his favorite cafe in Paris, where Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir used to go. So on that mat, he drew something for me. Then every time he came home and I wasn’t there, he’d scribble something on the other, and then I started saying, ‘Hussain Saab, mujhe toh aisa lagta hai, jab main nahi hoti hoon ghar pe aap aate hain, toh mere zyada maze ho jaate hain.’ One day I was shooting for City of Joy, and he was in Calcutta, and he said, chalo aaj shaam ko milte hain. I hadn’t met him for a long time. So he made this sketch of mine from my film Pestonji, and he stuck a rose in it, and then I said, ‘What is this?’ So he said, in case you don’t recognize me, I brought the rose for you. Cute, lovely, lovely little stories,” she said as she walked down memory lane. “I absolutely adored him, and I thought he was an absolutely remarkable painter. He grew up in a very syncretic culture. His mother used to wear a Marathi, Nauvari saree, and that’s who he was. I pay my biggest shraddhanjali to him,” concluded the actress.
