For decades, Shabana Azmi has been one of the few Bollywood icons unafraid to speak openly about choices that women are often judged for. One of those choices was her journey through life without biological children — a topic she has always approached with honesty instead of apology. Long before conversations about womanhood and agency became mainstream, Shabana had already been clear about one thing: not having children doesn’t make a woman “less". And in her case, that absence didn’t feel like a gap because Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar — Javed Akhtar’s children from his first marriage — were already a big part of her life.

“Society makes you feel incomplete"

In an earlier conversation with SCREEN, Shabana recalled how difficult it was to accept that she couldn’t conceive. “It’s tough

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