Shabana Azmi gets ANR Award

Hyderabad, Jan 13 (UNI) Noted actor and feminist Shabana Azmi was today awarded the prestigious Akkineni Nageswara Rao(ANR) Award for her contribution to Indian cinema.

Union Social Justice Minister Meira Kumar presented the award comprising a purse of Rs 3 lakh instituted by Akkineni International Foundation in the presence of a galaxy of great personalities, including Union Minister of State for Mines and noted film producer T Subbi Rami Reddy and legendary actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao at a gala function at the 'Ravindra Bharathi' auditorium here.

Shabana Azmi, who had acted in art films under acclaimed directors like Shyam Benegal(Ankur), Satyajit Ray(Shatranj Ke Khiladi), had also performed stellar roles in commercial movies like Amar Akbar Anthony, Lahoo Ke Do Rang, Parvarish, Fakira and Jwalamukhi mostly with Vinod Khanna.

Her movies like ''Fire'' with traces of lesbianism, and Deepa Mehta's '' Water'', for which she shaved off her head, had been embroiled in controversies.

Evergreen hero of Indian Cinema Dev Anand was awarded the first ANR award last year.

UNI