Shabana Azmi is heartened by Deepa Mehta's Water going to the Oscars. She was originally to do the film before Saffron activists pushed the project out of India and with it Shabana.

Shabana sighs, "The Oscar nomination is truly a validation of Deepa's work. And my God, how wonderful it would be if she really got the Oscar! It's a slap on the face for all those who didn't want Water to be made."

She recalls with a laugh her shaved head for Water. "If my husband had his way I'd go around with a shaved head for the rest of my life. He fancied me without hair.

I remember at Farhan's wedding I was completely bald with my head filled with sindoor. Rekha and Dimple looked at me and exclaimed, 'Babe you got guts.' That, Shabana does.