When Shabana met Michael

Shabana Azmi recently rubbed shoulders with Michael Douglas, Angelina and Brad, and Clinton...

Shabana Azmi recently rubbed shoulders with Michael Douglas, Angelina and Brad, and Clinton...It was literally ��India Everywhere' at Davos where the World Economic Forum took place recently. Among those carrying the torch for the country was Shabana Azmi. The lady not only won the Crystal Award but also hobnobbed with Michael Douglas and Bill Clinton, among others."It's inspiring to win the Crystal Award because it's been conferred on the likes of Paulo Cohelo, Umberto Eco, Peter Gabriel and Richard Gere in the past.

It goes on to prove the presence of India and our film industry in the global market. It's a great boost to cross-cultural relations." Ask how she was selected for the award and Shabana smiles, "By the board of directors of WEF. And Richard Gere had seen my work in the past." But the person who couldn't believe Shabana had done "142 films was Douglas," laughs Shabana. "I told him to visit India and he said he had been to Mumbai recently to discuss a project." Shabana feels Douglas is "informal, warm and friendly. He has no airs and was felicitated for his advocacy of nuclear disarmament. He revealed how, when at college, he would enact the role of Vietnamese soldiers by falling on the floor with 'blood' oozing out of his chest, to show that a bullet had hit him."Shabana also shared space with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie since they were there for contributing to the cause of refugee children. "But I didn't get to interact with them," she says. The person Shabana got to meet was the former US prez Bill Clinton."He is very articulate and there's a lot of sincerity in his speeches. I've met him on a couple of occasions earlier too," says she. So, it was a "glamourous affair" for Shabana. And she had a "ball. Every night was a party for us. Daytime was meant for work. But the ceremony was simple and elegant - the reading of a citation for which I received a standing ovation. I was moved in the hall packed with over 100 delegates, including the human rights' activist Mary Robinson, Barbara Stocking, the dean of John Kennedy School at Harvard University, Vasundhara Raje, Mukesh Ambani, Azim Premji and other political figures."

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