EXCLUSIVE| Fatima Sana Shaikh on Eid-ul-Adha: The best part about all festivals is that they bring people together
Actor Fatima Sana Shaikh poses for HT City exclusively on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha, and gets talking about eidi, kheer, and much more.
Her cosy Mumbai home is the spot where all her family members gather for festivities. And with it being Eid today, it was only ideal to get Fatima Sana Shaikh to pose exclusively for HT City here.
A wall of books, a retro fancy refrigerator, a foosball table and her pet dog Bijlee greet us as we enter her house, and get talking about the festival. “Mere liye Eid utna hi important hai jitne baaki festivals. More than religion, it’s about meeting people, laughing together, that’s the best part about festivals. Eidi bhi mil jaati thi, ab nahi milti! I think the last Eidi I got was at the age of 15... ab toh dene ki umar aa gayi hai (laughs)” laughs the 31-year-old, currently busy with Anurag Basu’s Metro.. In Dino.
Her family lives close to her house, and this year’s plan too include them coming over. But over the years, considering she is an actor, have there been occasions when she couldn’t be at home with them to celebrate the day? “The best thing about even our movie sets is that we celebrate everything, we are very inclusive. If there’s Holi, koi na koi rang laga hi deta hai. There’s an entire set created for festival scenes in films, it is celebrated even better on screen. Work does not change anything for me. I find my family everywhere- the set is family too,” smiles Shaikh.
The actor gets nostalgic as we ask what makes the day special for her now. “Kheer,” pat comes her reply, “I also remember my childhood days. Our gang of children would collect eidi, and buy cold drinks. Cola used to come for five rupees then. Someone would get chips, and we would have our own party, away from the elders. I was brought up in Mumbai, and my building had people from every religion. We celebrated all festivals. Also, on Eid, our parents would go to every house and give biryani, we would also be given the responsibility to do it. That’s such a beautiful thing, everyone would look forward to it. That’s the thing about festivals- there’s a feeling of togetherness, even if it’s not the same family. Festivals have that quality,” she says.
