Veteran actor Shabana Azmi, known for her remarkable work over the years, is all set to appear in her first OTT show, Dabba Cartel, backed by Farhan Akhtar, Shibani Akhtar, and Ritesh Sidhwani. The show revolves around a group of women who become entangled in drug smuggling by hiding contraband in lunch tiffin boxes delivered across the city by the renowned dabbawallahs.
In an exclusive interview with ETimes, the iconic actor shared her early memories of tiffin boxes. She said, “I didn’t have a tiffin because I used to have school lunch. It was just as bad as any tiffin that came.” (laughs)
When asked what she would pack if she had to prepare a tiffin for her husband, Javed Akhtar, she replied, “It would be Aloo Gosht Ka Salan. That’s the dish he likes the most. But actually, if I really had to pack a tiffin for him—like in a three-tiered dabba—all of them would contain different kinds of meetha because the man can wake up and eat sweets even for breakfast.”
She also revealed that the lyricist-writer’s favorite sweet is Gulab Jamun, followed closely by Mishti Doi, with Milk Cake coming in third.
Sharing an amusing anecdote, she said, ““Javed Akhtar and Naseeruddin Shah are capable of eating Khubani Ka Meetha (a very sweet Hyderabadi apricot dessert) with vanilla ice cream and Gulab Jamun! I mean in this world except these two people, I have never seen anyone else eat such a thing in my life.”
Talking about her own tiffin, Shabana Azmi added, “My tiffin box is very boring—salad, sprouted moong, and boiled eggs. I hope my nutritionist sees this because he will be so delighted. But honestly, this never happens—I just pretend.” (laughs)
Dabba Cartel also features Jyothika. Shalini Pandey, Anjali Anand, Sai Tamhankar and Gajraj Rao along with Jisshu Sengupta , Lillete Dubey and has been written by Vishu Menon and Bhavna Kher.
