Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950 at New Delhi, India) is an one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema. She is the daughter of famous Urdu poet Kaify Azmi. Her mother’s name is Shaukat Azami, a well known stage actress of her time. She graduated from St. Xavier's College, Bombay with a degree in psychology and is also an alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India. She is married to the lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar.