Shabana's chic new haircut

Shabana Azmi is sporting an all-new hairstyle. The actress has cut her hair short for her part in the new crossover film, The Contest.

"I have a delightful part in the film, where I play this flighty socialite," she chuckles.

"It's a comedy and the director is a very talented newcomer, Manish Acharya, an NYU graduate. I think he's as talented as Farhan (Akhtar).

He can talk for hours about global cinema and knows every Amitabh Bachchan-starrer and every Javed Akhtar dialogue
by heart."

According to Shabana, "Manish is an insanely talented filmmaker. He was a hotshot executive in an American company, and was offered obscene amounts of money to join an Indian firm.

But he told his wife, 'If I continue doing this, I'll never have the courage to make a film.' She's a very good painter, and agreed to support him while he went away to NYU and performed very well there."

The Contest fell into Shabana's lap suddenly. "Manish approached me, through Ayesha Dharker. I really enjoyed it," she says.