Shabana Azmi holds her ears, issues public apology to Dabba Cartel co-star Jyotika; here’s why​

Veteran actress Shabana Azmi credits the growing influence of casting directors in the Hindi film industry for bringing about a significant change. According to Azmi, casting directors have helped move away from traditional stock characters, introducing more authentic and diverse faces in films. She made these remarks at the trailer launch of her upcoming Netflix series, Dabba Cartel. Not only this, she publicly apologised her co-star Jyotika, who is also playing a crucial role in the upcoming series.

The trailer of Dabba Cartel was unveiled at a grand event in Mumbai. The entire cast, including Shabana, and the makers attended the event held at Mehboob Studios. In a surprising revelation during a Q&A session with the media, Shabana dropped a bombshell, stating that she had attempted to have two cast members removed from the show, including Jyotika.

“I have a confession to make. There are two actresses in this show that I wanted to remove. One is Jyotika. She doesn’t know this but I really wanted her out and wanted to cast someone else. I even told them (Farhan and Shibani) that kisi aur ko cast karte hain (let’s cast someone else),” she admitted when media quizzed director Hitesh Bhatia on the logistics of getting all the actors together. The series has an ensemble cast including Gajraj Rao, Nimisha Sajayan, Shalini Pandey, Anjali Anand, Sai Tamhankar, Jisshu Sengupta, Lillete Dubey, and Bhupendra Singh Jadawat. 

Shabana even held her ears and said ‘sorry’ to Jyotika who instantly touched her feet in a bid to show respect. The veteran actress further praised the team for not replacing Jyotika, admitting it was her own mistake to doubt her, and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to work together.

Meanwhile, Dabba Cartel follows the story of ordinary women who run a dabba service that secretly transports drugs across Mumbai.The thriller series is set to premieres on February 28 only on Netflix.