Mumbai: Veteran actor Shabana Azmi today said she is following in the footsteps
of legendary poet her father Kaifi Azmi by providing employment
opportunities to people from small towns and villages.
The
67-year-old actor said, who runs Mijwan Welfare Society (MWS), said
through the NGO, which was founded by her father, they concentrate on
rural areas to bring about holistic economic development in the country.
"My
father believed that India's remarkable economic progress can only be
meaningful if it reaches rural India, where 80 per cent of the
population lives, but is denied access to opportunity.
"His
prophetic words have become my mantra in the work that I do with the
weak and the dispossessed. When Kaifi saheb embarked on the journey
alone, Mijwan (a village in Uttar Pradesh) did not even figure on the
map of India. Today, Mijwan is known all over the world," Azmi said in a
statement here.
PVR has joined hands with the NGO and would
screen a 60-second-long video which narrates the inspiring story about
Mijwan before the national anthem is played, a press release issued here
said.
Mijwan was launched with the goal of creating employment
opportunities for the region's women and reviving the art of chikankari
embroidery.
Celebrity fashion designer Manish Malhotra has also collaborated with Azmi to provide work to the Mijwan artisans.
Bollywood
A-listers such as Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma and
others have walked the ramp to support the cause of Mijwan in the past.
PTI
