Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar to walk the ramp for Shabana Azmi's Mijwan

Years after Kaifi Azmi wrote the moving poem Aurat envisioning women empowerment his daughter veteran actress and social activist Shabana Azmi is bringing together Bollywoods iconic male actors like Amitabh Bachchan to walk for her NGO Mijwan Welfare Society MWS to support the causeBig B and Akshay KumarThe idea she says is to convey that the man cares for the womanAmitabh Akshay Kumar Farhan Akhtar Ranbir Kapoor and Sidharth Malhotra all belonging to different generations of the Hindi film industry will walk the ramp to show their support towards emancipation of the female genderThe show Men For Mijwan by Manish Malhotra is in support of MWS an NGO founded by Shabanas father a wellknown poetWhat is unique about the event is that iconic male stars from different generations whom we are referring to as MEN OF STYLE will be walking the ramp for the empowerment of women in rural IndiaThe man cares for the woman is the message we wish to convey This is an idea whose time has come There is much greater awareness today that for a healthy society male participation in womens empowerment is the need of the hour Shabana told IANSThe aim of the NGO is to empower rural India with a focus on the girlchild and women and it is now jointly run by Shabana and her godchild Namrata GoyalThe fundraising fashion show will showcase creations made using chikankari art by Mijwan girls It will be held April 1 at the Grand Hyatt hereIt is very heartening that my colleagues in the film industry whom we approached were all aware of Mijwan and warmed up to the idea and I am truly indebted to them for their support Shabana saidIn fact they have been forward in spite of gruelling film schedules Some will come straight from their shooting while some need to go back for a night shift but they are accommodating us because the issue is so important she addedCiting an excerpt from her fathers poem Aurat she said that he wrote Qadr ab tak teri tareeq ney jaani hi nahiTujhmein sholay bhi hain bas ashkfishani hi nahiTu haqeeqat bhi hai dilchasp kahani hi nahiTeri hasti bhi ik cheez jawani hi nahiApni tareeq ka unvaan badalna hai tujheUth meri jaan mere saath hi chalna hai tujheRoughly translatedNot only tears there are glowing embers within youNot fables alone there is a reality to youNot only your youth your existence has value tooYou have to change the course of your historyRise my love You have to come walk with meWomen empowerment is a subject very close to Shabanas heart and she is happy with the way Mijwan has grown from strength to strength over the yearsWhen we started we had one embroidery centre in Mijwan Today we have 10 centres across Uttar Pradesh and were still counting The girls and women now have a livelihood because of which their status within the family has changed Shabana saidThey are saying no to marriage before the age of 18 have opened bank accounts in their names and they are being looked upon as assets not liabilities Its a huge mindset transformation in a patriarchal society she added