Shabana Azmi was first introduced to colour-blind casting more than 30 years ago. The veteran Bollywood actor was in New York in the Eighties, soaking in Broadway shows, when she bought a ticket to a production of Peter Brook’s The Bone. In it was a family of characters of all kinds of races, though those differences went unmentioned. A white man was brothers with a Chinese man, who was the uncle of a Black man. “In the beginning it takes you by surprise,” Azmi recalls over Zoom from Los Angeles. “But then, within less than two minutes, you believe it. The strength of theatre and films is that they persuade audiences into a suspension of disbelief.”
Decades later, the 71-year-old has only just experienced colour-blind casting for herself. She plays the authoritarian – and traditionally white – Admiral Parangosky in the TV series Halo, based on the popular video game. It’s also a rare first for her, with Azmi long having conquered the Indian film industry, alongside her storied legacy of outspoken activism. With five Best Actress wins, she is currently the most awarded actor in the history of India’s National Film Awards, while the diversity of her roles resembles a beautifully stitched patchwork quilt. No square of fabric is the same.
