/> Trust Shabana Azmi to spring surprises galore . Even as she returned from Singapore for her birthday on September 18, she flew down to Shanti Niketan for the release of a very unique project.

"It 's a Bengali album called Tomar Akaash Dao containing a recitation of Rabindranath Tagore's poetry which I've done with Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee," she laughs in delight.

"Somnath Chatterjee is a big Tagore fan and he has the most gorgeous voice. He has recited some of Tagore's poems in Bengali while I've recited six of Tagore's poems in English. His daughter Anusheela has sung some poems."

Shabana isn't the first film personality to have done a serious album of poems. Amitabh Bachchan has recited his own father the illustrious Harivansh Rai Bachchan's 's poems, and Shabana's father, the distinguished Kaifi Azmi did an album of his own poems.

But this is certainly the first time that an Indian actress(or for that matter an actress from any part of the world) has gotten together with a politician to cut an album.

"You're telling me!" Shabana laughs.

"Somnath Chatterjee wrote to me asking if I'd do this album. He's such a lovely man. I readily agreed. It was a very very nice experience. Now let's see what the Bongs do with it. I recorded the album very very quietly when I was shooting Aparna Sen's 15 Park Avenue in Kolkata...you know I don't like brouhaha about anything I do. I'm very superstitious about things going wrong. To woh maine kar liya chup-chaap baith kar. Now when I came back from Singapore Javed and I went straight to Shanti Niketan for its release. Javed released the album."

This isn't the first time that Shabana has cut an album. In Shyam Benegal's Mandi she sang a song for composer Vanraj Bhatia and in Muzaffar Ali's Anjuman she sang the entire album.